Saag Paneer and Tandoori Chicken with Garlic Naan

Palak paneer (spinach curry) is one of my favourites (along with chana marsala - chickpea curry) so when I come across the recipe here at 101 Cookbooks, I had to give it a try.  It's perfect for a Sunday night with a DVD, and it's dead easy.  This was also my first attempt at home made tandoori paste - also very easy.

Saag Paneer

The 101 Cookbooks recipe suggests baby spinach to avoid chopping out all the stems.  I actually used frozen spinach (stems and all) and blended with a stick blender towards the end.  I’ll try it again with fresh spinach and see if there’s a difference.

The recipe also suggests halloumi as a good paneer substitute (which I did) but living just over the road from Little India so I’ll get the real deal when I pick up the spinach.

I didn’t have buttermilk, so I just added some water instead, and ended up increasing the spice level, especially the chilli.

Ingredients

680g fresh (baby) spinach, well washed and dried

2 tablespoons ghee, clarified butter, or unsalted butter

230 – 340g paneer cheese, cut into 1cm cubes

2 medium onions, finely chopped

scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger

1 tablespoon spice mixture* (see below)

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup buttermilk

Splash of cream or dollop of plain yogurt (optional)

Fresh lemon to finish, and toasted sesame seeds to sprinkle

Chop the spinach well, and set aside in a large bowl.

Cook the paneer in one tablespoon of the butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Cook the cubes in a single layer, turning regularly to brown evenly.  If using halloumi, keep an eye out because it will brown much more quickly than paneer.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Heat the other tablespoon of butter in a large pot. Add the onions and salt, and saute until the onions soften up, five minutes or so. Add the garlic, ginger, spice mixture, and turmeric. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and nicely combined - a minute or two.

Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the spinach to the pan all at once, if possible. Cook, stirring all the while, until the spinach is collapsed and wilted, a couple of minutes. If you need to add the spinach in batches (adding more spinach as it collapses), that is fine too, just do it as quickly as possible.

Stir in the buttermilk and cream and heat gently while stirring. Taste and add more salt if necessary and more red pepper flakes if you like. Add a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice, stir in the paneer, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Serves 4-6.

*Spice Mixture: Use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind the following spices as finely as possible: 2 tablespoons cumin seed, 1 tablespoons coriander seed, 2 teaspoons mustard seed, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1/8 teaspoon cardamom seeds, 3 whole cloves.  Store in an airtight container and use as needed.

Tandoori Chicken

Paste

Recipe from Taste.com.au (here)

Ingredients

·         1/2 tsp sweet paprika

·         1/4 cup lemon juice

·         5cm cube of fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped

·         2 garlic cloves, skinned

·         1 tbsp salt

·         1 teaspoon chilli paste

·         1 tbsp garam masala

·         3 tsp ground cumin

·         2 tbsp oil

·         3 tsp chilli powder

·         1 tbsp natural yoghurt

Add everything together and mix well.

Coat chicken in paste (thighs, breast, drumsticks), cover and set aside for several hours.  Cook the chicken over a coal grill for a more authentic flavour.  I fried mine in a pan.

Serves 4

Garlic Naan

Soften several tablespoons of butter and mix in some well chopped parsley and minced garlic.  Dot naan with butter mixture and heat in an oven until piping hot.

Nothing left but crumbs!

What are your favourite Sunday night recipes?