Palak paneer () or palak chhena is an Indian dish consisting of

chhena Chhena () or chhana () is a kind of acid-set cheese originating in the Indian subcontinent that is made from water buffaloDalby, A 2009, ''Cheese: A Global History'', Reaktion Books, p. 73, Kapoor, S & Kapoor, A 2006, ''Sanjeev Kapoor's No-oil V ...

paneer Paneer (), is a fresh acid-set cheese, common in cuisine of South Asia, made from cow milk or buffalo milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice. Pa ...

in a thick paste made from

purée A purée (or mash) is cooked food, usually vegetables, fruits or legumes, that has been ground, pressed, blended or sieved to the consistency of a creamy paste or liquid. Purées of specific foods are often known by specific names, e.g., appl ...

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

, called palak in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India **Marathi people (Uttar Pradesh), the Marathi people in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Mar ...

, Gujarati, and other Indian languages. The terms palak chhena and saag chhena are sometimes used interchangeably in restaurants in the

Anglosphere The Anglosphere, also known as the Anglo-American world, is a Western-led sphere of influence among the Anglophone countries. The core group of this sphere of influence comprises five developed countries that maintain close social, cultura ...

. However, saag chhena is different from traditional palak chhena in that it contains other green leafy vegetables, such as mustard greens, whereas palak paneer only contains spinach. Dhaba restaurants often specialize in palak chhena.

Preparation

Palak paneer is prepared by first boiling and pureeing spinach. The puree is then mixed with sautéed tomatoes and onions. Grilled cubes of paneer are then added to the puree. Palak paneer is typically spiced with ginger,

garlic Garlic (''Allium sativum'') is a species of bulbous flowering plants in the genus '' Allium''. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, chives, Welsh onion, and Chinese onion. Garlic is native to central and south Asia, str ...

, tomatoes,

garam masala Garam masala (Hindustani language, Hindustani: ''garam masālā'', ) is a Spice mix, blend of ground spices originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is common in Indian cuisine, Indian, Pakistani cuisine, Pakistani, Nepalese cuisine, Nepale ...

, turmeric,

chili powder Chili powder (also spelled chile, chilli, or, alternatively, powdered chili) is the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties of chili pepper, sometimes with the addition of other spices (in which case it is also sometimes known as chili p ...

and

cumin Cumin (, ; ; ''Cuminum cyminum'') is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to the Irano-Turanian Region. Its seeds – each one contained within a fruit, which is dried – are used in the cuisines of many cultures in both whole ...

Serving

Palak paneer is served hot with a side dish such as

roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

naan Naan () is a leavened, oven-baked or tawa-fried flatbread, that can also be baked in a tandoor. It is characterized by a light and fluffy texture and golden-brown spots from the baking process. Naan is found in the cuisines of Central Asia ...

paratha Paratha (, also parantha/parontah) is a flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent, with earliest reference mentioned in early medieval Sanskrit, India. It is one of the most popular flatbreads in the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East. ...

makki ki roti Makki ki roti is a flat unleavened bread made from corn meal (maize flour). Like most rotis in the Indian subcontinent, it is baked on a '' tava''. It is primarily eaten in the Punjab region of India and Pakistan and in Jammu, Himachal Pradesh, ...

, or boiled rice. It can also be served with onions on the side for a more traditional approach. In recent years, there have been fusion variations of palak paneer. In July 2020, a Bangalore-based food blogger posted her variation of palak paneer

idli Idli, iddena, iddali or idly (; plural: idlis) is a type of savoury rice cake, originating from South India, popular as a breakfast food in Southern India and in Sri Lanka. The cakes are made by steaming a batter consisting of fermented de-h ...

. The dish sparked conversation on Twitter and Instagram about the unusual combination of these two North and South Indian dishes.

References

Indian cheese dishes Indian curries North Indian cuisine Pakistani curries Afghan cuisine Punjabi cuisine Uttar Pradeshi cuisine Rajasthani cuisine Gujarati cuisine Maharashtrian cuisine Vegetarian dishes of India Spinach dishes {{India-cuisine-stub

Preparation

Serving

See also

References