Palak Paneer

One of my favorite things about this recipe is how vile it looks. Don't get me wrong, this cheese-spinach curry is wonderful, but it looks like white chunks in green sludge.

You may not know this from my blog, but I would say I'm actually quite good at cooking Indian food. I make great lentil soup, a mean chicken curry and many other dishes. I own a pressure cooker and am a frequent visitor to the Indian grocery store near my apartment.

Like any other recipe, I added what I had and skipped what I did not. However, this is a recipe I glanced at beforehand.

Ingredients:
1 bag spinach
1/2 large green bell pepper, very coarsely chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
3-4 green chilies, sliced
8-10 curry leaves (not usually included in this dish)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Ghee for cooking
Salt to taste
About 8 oz fried paneer (I have made this from scratch, but prefer to buy it in a bag)

First, fry the onion until soft, and add the chillies and curry leaves. After one minute, add the bell pepper, and all the other spices, including the seeds and paste. Add the spinach and saute until soft. Wait for it to cool, and add the mixture to a blender or food processor. Blend well while slowly adding the yogurt. Pour mixture into pan and add paneer. Serve with rice and Indian relish/pickle.

I made this dish pretty spicy because I knew the yogurt would make it more mild. It turned out well, and the best part will be eating the green sludge leftovers at work tomorrow.