Saag Paneer – delicious main or side dish

by | Light Bites, Main Meals, Spring, Vegetarian

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Saag Paneer – a simple dish with a few ingredients but one which is bursting with colour and flavour.  Certainly a dish for any budding Popeye! A huge amount of spinach, but don’t be alarmed – it wilts down to a fraction of the size once steamed in the pan and further by a quick whizz in the food processor.  The garlic, turmeric, cumin and smoked paprika give it the heights of flavour, elevating the paneer and spinach to new levels.

Serve one it’s own as a main meal or with other small dishes to make up a larger meal.

Here’s what you will need;

  • lots of spinach!
  • spices:
    • ground turmeric
    • ground cumin
    • ground chilli or smoked paprika depending on your preference for heat
  • garlic
  • avocado oil
  • paneer
  • plain yoghurt

 

Saag Paneer - delicious main or side dish

The Balanced Kitchen
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Light Bite, Main Course
Cuisine Indian

Ingredients
  

Paneer & marinade

  • 200 g paneer cubed
  • 2 TBSP avocado oil
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • ground black pepper

Remaining ingredients

  • 500 g fresh spinach washed
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika or ground chilli
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 4 TBSP plain yoghurt
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
 

Paneer

  • Place the cubed paneer and marinade ingredients into a small bowl, mix and leave to marinade for 1 hour (or more) in the fridge. You can skip the marinating time and just mix ingredients together and cook but marinating will provide a deeper flavour throughout the paneer.
  • Place the marinated paneer in a frying pan (no need to add extra oil) and fry until golden on each side (this should only take around 6-7 minutes. Remove from the heat and set to one side.

Remaining ingredients

  • Add an inch of water to a large pan and bring to the boil. Once boiled, add all of the spinach and weigh it down with a large lid. Steam until the spinach has wilted and the water has evaporated which should take around 5 minutes.
  • Place the wilted spinach into a food processing jug with the ground turmeric, cumin, paprika or chilli, garlic cloves and yoghurt and whizz until your reach a fine texture. Season to taste.
  • Add the spinach mixture to the pan with the paneer, heat through gently and serve while warm.
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