Palak Panneer - Pasalai keerai Paladai katti

Ingredients:

Spinach/Palak - Pasalai keerai - 1 bunch
Panneer - Paladai katti - 1 packet (Cubed)
Tomato puree - Thakkali saru - 1 cup
Ginger - Inji - small piece
Cumin seeds - Jeeragam - 1 tea spoon
Red chillies - Kaintha milagai - 2 nos.
Asafoetida - Perungayam - a pinch
Black gram dal - Ulutham paruppu - 1 tea spoon
Red chilly powder - Kaintha milagai thul - 1/2 tea spoon
Turmeric powder - Manjal podi - 1/4 tea spoon
Salt - Uppu - 1 tea spoon
Fresh cream - Eddu - 1/2 cup
Rice flour - Arisi mavu - 1 tea spoon

Method:

1. Wash and boil spinach in a vessel uncovered, if it is closed we cannot get fresh green colour. Grind it in a mixie. Fry panneer in a kadai in hot oil. We also get readymade fried panneer in shops. Some add without frying.
2. Make tomato puree and make ginger paste and keep other required ingredients ready. Heat oil in a pan/kadai, add asafoetida, cumin seeds, black gram dal, turmeric powder, ginger paste, red chilly, red chilly powder, little salt and then tomato puree, allow it to boil for some five to ten minutes so that it is more than a little half.
3. Then add spinach to it. Then mix rice flour with water and make it to a paste form and add to this so that green leaves won't look more sticky. Finally add fresh cream and let the mixture boil for some 7 minutes.

Palak panneer is delicious and ready to be served. It can be served for 4 people. It requires hardly 30 miuntes to cook. Garnish with sliced tomatoes. This can be served with roti, white rice. Though this dish is familiar in north side I have added because it is tasty and delicious.

Note: Spinach leaves has its own salt and hence care must be taken to add only little salt.

Optional: Garam masala, garlic along with ginger, chopped onions, cumin powder can be added instead of cumin seeds. Fresh cream can be ignored. Milk can be added instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinach

A nickel's worth of goulash beats a five dollar can of vitamins
Martin H. Fischer