Palak Paneer / Spinach & Cottage Cheese

Before the season changes and leafy vegetables are out of season, try and make it - is my current philosophy. No other season gives better leafy vegetables than the current one, so try and get your fix of greens now. Today's recipe is the very popular Palak Paneer or Spinach and Cottage Cheese. It is the most often, ordered dish in restaurants and made at home. Palak Paneer is best served and eaten with chapati, roti or parathas.

Ingredients
Spinach / Palak - 500 gms
Cottage cheese / Paneer - 250 gms
Onion - 1, medium sized
Tomato - 1, small sized
Green chilli - 1
Turmeric pwd - 1/2 tsp
Clove / Lavang - 1
Bay leaf - 1
Black cumin / Shahjeera - 1 tsp
Cream - 1 tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter - 1 tbsp

Chop the onion and tomato very finely and slit the green chilli.

Wash the spinach carefully and put in a colander to drain. Grind the spinach to a paste in a blender and keep aside. Cut the paneer into 1 inch cubes and keep aside else lightly fry it till light golden. I prefer not to fry it and like to use it as is.

Heat a deep pan and add the oil and butter in it. When it is hot add the bay leaf, clove and black cumin seeds. Saute a couple of times and then add the finely chopped onions and continue sauteeing till onions turn light golden. To this add finely chopped tomato and green chilli and saute till tomato softens. Add the turmeric powder and salt and mix well. To this, add the spinach paste and mix well and cover and let it cook. After about 8 to 10 minutes, uncover, stir a few times and check if the raw taste of spinach has gone. Check for seasoning and adjust if salt is required. Add the paneer pieces and mix well. Cook for a couple of minutes and take off the heat. When ready to serve the Palak Paneer take it out into a bowl and top with cream. Serve Palak Paneer with roti or paratha.  

My Palak Paneer goes to - North East West Indian Cooking hosted by Anu.

 

Cheera Moloshyam / Mulakushyam

Pacha Cheera, as spinach is known in Malayalam, is quite widely used in Kerala in thoran and in moloshyam / mulakushyam. Moloshyam or mulakushyam is a curry made with coconut paste and dal and can be made with ash gourd and pumpkin, spinach or tender drumstick leaves or cabbage and the name is "whichever vegetable" moloshyam. Today, the recipe I give here is for a pacha cheera moloshyam which is spinach moloshyam. Since spinach like all leaf vegetables shrink on cooking, you have to have a large quantity if you intend making a sabzi with it. So, on days you don't have enough spinach for a sabzi make this curry which does not over cook the greens making it a very healthy dish.

This moloshyam is adapted from the Palakkad Iyer style of cooking. As such, in Kerala moloshyam is made but without using coconut. Instead, coconut oil is used at the end to season it. For today, this Cheera Moloshyam recipe has ground coconut in it.  

 

Ingredients

Spinach - 1.5 cups 

Tuwar / Moong dal - 1/4 cup

Coconut, grated - 1/4 cup, tightly packed

Green chilli - 2

Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp

Turmeric pwd - 1 tsp

Red chilli pwd - 1 tsp

Salt as per taste

for tempering

Shallots - 2 / Onion - 1/4

Mustard seeds - 1 tsp

Dry red chilli - 2

Curry leaves - 5 to 6

Oil - 1 tbsp

Wash the dal and pressure cook it with 1/2 cup water. In a blender jar, add the grated coconut, cumin seeds and green chillies and grind it to a fine paste. The 1.5 cup spinach used is washed and cut leaves.

Put a saucepan to heat and add the cooked dal and spinach into it. Add a little water to make a medium thick curry consistency. Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder and a little salt and cover and let the spinach cook on medium heat. It will not take much time for the greens to cook. Once cooked, add the ground coconut paste to the spinach and dal mixture and mix well. Check for salt, if necessary add some. Let the curry come to a boil and then take it off the heat.

 

Separately, heat a pan with oil, preferably coconut oil and when hot add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds splutter add the chopped onion or shallots and sauté till translucent. Cut the dry red chillies in pieces and add it to the frying onion along with the curry leaves and sauté till the onions are light golden. Pour this on to the curry and cover till ready to serve. Cheera Moloshyam is ready.

A cheera or red spinach moloshyam can be made exactly the same way by just substituting the spinach with red spinach.

 

My Cheera Moloshyam goes to :

- "Dish it out - coconut & sugar/salt", originally from Vardhini's cooksjoy

- Eat seasonal food, fresh, originally hosted by Jagruthi