One cuisine I’m most intrigued about is Indian. The complex blend of spices, use of exotic ingredients and intense flavor and aroma of this cuisine has a spell on me… especially lately. It seems as though I just can’t get enough of this delicious food! I’m often hesitant making Indian dishes at home because I know it’s not truly authentic. But even then, my tolerance to heat and spice is most likely laughable to those used to the true preparation of the dishes. Nonetheless, this version of SaagPaneer turned out well for an Americanized version. Creamy, aromatic and with a beautiful color, this dish has a deep flavor similar to the ones I’ve had a Indian restaurants…
So what exactly is Saag Paneer? This is a dish that consists of spinach, spices and bite sized farmers cheese. It’s the kind of dish that’s comforting when served over rice or even with warm, buttery naan bread. However you enjoy it, it’s certainly a common dish of Indian cuisine. Most might assume there would be a long list of spices to make various Indian dishes. This recipe calls for ingredients that are fairly common at most supermarkets and you may already have most in your pantry. Paneer cheese may be trickier and if that cheese isn’t available, you can substitute it with ricotta cheese and stirring it in.
recipe adapted from AllRecipes
6 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
2 dried red chile peppers
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
3 pounds fresh spinach, torn
4 sprigs fresh cilantro leaves
1 cup chicken stock
8 ounces paneer cheese, cubed
coarse sea salt to taste
In your Instant Pot:
Plug in the IP with insert set in place.
Press SAUTE and add oil. When hot, add garlic, 1/2 tablespoon of ginger, red chilies (optional ingredient) and onion; saute until brown.
Mix in the cumin, coriander, turmeric and Greek yogurt (add more or less to achieve desired creaminess).
Add the spinach and chicken broth.
Press MANUAL and adjust the time to 1 minute on HIGH pressure.
Once at pressure, the display will reflect 1 (the number of minutes you initially set) and will begin to countdown to 0 minutes.
Open up your IP when the pin has dropped (allow a few minutes for this to happen).
In a medium frying pan heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat, and fry cheese until browned; drain and add to spinach mixture in the IP.
Stir to combine and season with salt to taste.
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