I love me some delicious Indian food, and it’s one of my favorite things to cook because the spices, aromas and textures are so different from the normal American fare. Depending on what you cook, it’s also often pretty healthy.
Last weekend, we grabbed a big bunch of spinach from the farmers market and wanted to make something other than a boring spinach salad. Palak Paneer was the answer! But since the best part of Indian food is naan (flatbread) and lassi (yogurt drink), those had to come too. The palak paneer recipe wasn’t exactly the one at VahRehVah (the YouTube videos by this guy are great by the way), but pretty close. Here’s the naan recipe — the site lets you choose how many servings…I missed that part so I made enough naan for 14 people. Whoops. Good thing it’s great and freezes well. Finally, lassi is just yogurt, a handful of ice, a teaspoon or so of cardamom, and sugar to taste. Use your judgement here and your blender.
First step was making the paneer. Heat milk to about 190 degrees, then add vinegar slowly until it curdles.
Stir it until curds form and then let it cool.
After it’s cool, put it in a cheesecloth and squeeze it hard. Put a book on top of it and let the book squeeze more liquid out for a few hours. Slice it up into cubes, then heat some oil and give it a nice browning.
Add it to the spinach, tomato and spice mixture.
For the naan, make the dough, toss it out like a pizza, and cook it in some hot butter in a skillet. You want it slightly charred but not overly burned.
The finished product.
