Restaurant Style Palak Paneer

Palak Paneer is a quintessential Indian dish, a favorite across the length and breadth of India. Made using Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) and spinach puree, this restaurant style dish is a delight to eat with any Indian bread. Here is how to make Palak Paneer recipe.

Other palak recipes that you must try are Palak Raita, Palak Pakoda and Dal Palak.

Palak Paneer curry with all the goodness from Spinach and Paneer is a super easy and super quick to make dish.

This Palak Paneer Sabji is basically a Punjabi dish which is now popular all over India and even abroad.

This is one of the curries my picky little eater demands every now and then.

Since it’s gets done in no time, I also make sure to include this healthy spinach paneer curry in our weekly menu at least twice.

There was a time when I always ate this restaurant style palak paneer recipe only at the restaurants, but now after experimenting this recipe so many times, I have created that restaurant like taste at home. 

So now, this easy palak paneer ki recipe gets done in my kitchen in no time with the best of ingredients and proper hygiene and with restaurant like taste.

Try to make the most of your time by blanching the spinach on one stove and meanwhile it’s getting done, make the masala base for the curry and you have a delicious dish ready under 30 minutes.

What is Palak Paneer?

Palak is spinach and paneer is Indian cottage cheese. Palak Paneer is a bright green curry with spinach as its base and paneer cubes simmered in it along with a few spices. 

It is originally a Punjabi dish which is now popular all around the world.

You can make palak paneer in two ways. One is where the spinach is blanched and then pureed and the other where you don’t have to blanch the spinach.

Spinach Paneer or Palak Paneer Sabji  is a mild curry and is loaded with goodness of both spinach and paneer.

Ingredients to make Punjabi Palak Paneer Recipe

You will need palak or spinach leaves to make this dish. Try to use fresh and small leaves. The quality of palak makes a lot of difference in taste of palak paneer.

While out stay in the US, I used to make this curry using the frozen spinach from Costco and it worked just fine.

Use good quality paneer to make Palak Paneer. You can get paneer or Indian cottage cheese in any Indian stores. In fact, a lot of regular grocery stores in US also carry paneer these days.

I like to make my paneer at home using organic milk. It’s a very easy process and with some pre planning, it can be done easily.

Adding lemon juice at the end makes sure the iron from spinach is absorbed by the body. So make sure to add it.

You will need basic spices, onion, tomato, ginger and garlic apart from these main ingredients to make this recipe of Palak Paneer.

Adding a little cream at the end makes this dish very tempting. You can add some cashew nut or almond paste to make it even more rich.

How to make Paneer at home?

Making paneer at home is a very easy process. Here is a detailed recipe to make it at home.

How to store Palak Paneer?

You can refrigerate Palak Paneer for 2-3 days in airtight containers. If you want to freeze this dish, don’t add cream and paneer cubes at the end. Just freeze the gravy in freezer safe containers.

When you are ready to serve, thaw the gravy for 3-4 hours. Then re heat until nicely warmed. Now add fresh cream and paneer cubes and cook for another minute.

How to get the bright green colour of Spinach Paneer Gravy?

The bright green colour of the spinach can be achieved by adding a small amount of baking soda in the water while blanching the spinach and making sure you do not over cook the spinach after adding it in the curry.

Make sure to run the blanched spinach under water to get rid of the soda.

How to make smoky Restaurant Style Palak Paneer?

The smoky effect that you get in Restaurant style curries is from the Dhungar method. A burning piece of coal is kept over the curry in a bowl and is poured with some ghee on top.

That results in smoke to come out and the smoke that is released is trapped in the curry to give it a smoky flavour.

Do try this method to make Palak Paneer ki Recipe and I am sure you will love it.

What to serve with Punjabi Palak Paneer?

I make palak paneer very often, either to go with rice, chapati, butter naan, garlic naan, plain paratha or laccha paratha, poori or even makki ki roti.

You can actually serve it with any Indian bread, steamed rice, pulao or jeera rice.

Kesar da Dhaba style Palak Paneer Recipe

On our recent trip to Amritsar, we made sure to dine at Kesar da Dhaba which is a mecca for good Punjabi vegetarian food. While the menu is quite decent, we ordered the absolute fav from this dhaba and that was their Dal Makhani and Palak Paneer.

The main difference that I found in between my recipe and their’s is the amount of fat used. The ghee was floating on top of their Palak Paneer Gravy which definitely added to the taste.

So if you making Dhaba Style Palak Paneer recipe for any special occasion, go easy on ghee. You can replace the oil in the below mentioned recipe with ghee and increase its amount.

Secondly, they had also added more spices including coriander powder in this dish. Try to bump the amount of spices too if you are fond of spicy food.

And lastly, a second tempering of ghee with cumin seeds is poured on top of the bowl filled with palak paneer.

Having said that, my recipe to make Palak Paneer has been loved my many and they make it on repeat 🙂

How to blanch the palak perfectly for making Palak Paneer?

The main ingredients while making Palak Paneer is the Palak or Spinach and it’s very important to handle it properly.

To blanch the palak, heat water in a large pot. Once it comes to a boil, add a pinch of baking soda to it. Add the thoroughly washed palak and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.

Addition of baking soda retains the bright green colour of the palak making the resulting curry vibrant and green. You can also add a pinch of sugar in the water for a nice green colour.

Once the spinach cook for 2-3 minutes, drain the water and immediately pour ice cold water over the spinach. It will cease the cooking process and make the spinach brighter in colour.

Now you can go ahead and puree the spinach. The spinach is already cooked now and you don’t have to cook it too much while making the curry.

How to clean Spinach to make Palak Paneer?

Cleaning the greens, especially if you live in India is a challenge. The greens comes directly from the arms, which is a very good thing but they are full of mud and dirt. So we have to make sure they are cleaned very nicely before cooking.

To clean the greens well, fill a large pot with water.

Soak the greens in water for 5 minutes. The dirt will settle down. Now very gently remove the greens from the top and discard the water.

Repeat this process 2-3 times.

What is the difference between Palak Paneer and Saag Paneer?

In Palak Paneer only spinach is used in the gravy while in Saag Paneer, other greens like mustard greens, fenugreek leaves etc are also used along with spinach. 

There is a similar Kashmiri dish called Methi Chaman. It have spinach and methi as the base gravy ingredients. Fried paneer cubes are added to it later.

How to make healthy less oil no onion no garlic Palak Paneer?

I make Palak Paneer quite often at home and when making it for regular everyday meals, I prefer this version which requires very less oil as compared to the restaurant style one and is quite healthy to eat on a regular basis.

To make it, I blanch the spinach and puree the spinach as mentioned in the process below.  Now I heat 1 tbsp ghee or oil in a pan.

Once the oil is hot, I add hing and cumin seeds. Once they start to crackle, I add tomato puree and cook for a few minutes. Now I add coriander powder and red chilli powder and spinach puree. Cook for another minute and then add paneer cubes.

Cook for a minute and a very simple home style palak paneer is ready in no time.

Tips to make best Palak Paneer

You can deep fry or shallow fry the paneer cubes in little oil until browned and then add them in the gravy for a change.

If the paneer is hard, soak it in warm water for 15 minutes. It will become soft again.

If you want to make a vegan version, replace paneer wth tofu. Use cashew  cream or any other vegan cream in place of regular cream.

Add fresh cream at the end to make creamier and richer version.

Some people add aloo in the gravy and make Aloo Palak Paneer. You can even add corn to it.

Palak Paneer Calories

The recipe I have shared have 350 Kcal per portion. You can make it healthier by skipping to add cream.

You might also like

Paneer Butter Masala

Kadai Paneer

Sarson ka Saag

Paneer Lababdar

Palak Puri

Pineapple Raita

How to make Palak Paneer Step by Step

Heat water in a large pot.

2. Clean the spinach and wash it thoroughly under running water. Once the water comes to a boil, add the cooking soda and spinach and blanch the spinach for 3-4 minutes.

3. Drain the water and run the spinach under cold water immediately. Put the spinach a blender along with green chillies and make a smooth paste.

4. Heat oil in a pan. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and dried red chillies. Let them crackle for a few seconds.

5. Add onion and garlic and fry until onion turns translucent.

6. Add tomato and cook for 3-4 minutes. You can blend the masala at this stage for a creamier gravy.

7. Add coriander powder, garam masala powder and fry for another minute.

8. Add spinach puree and saute on high heat for minute

9. Add paneer, salt and 1/2 cup water and bring the curry to a boil.

10. Switch off the heat and add lemon juice and mix well.

11. For the Dhungar, heat a coal piece until it is red hot.

12. Keep a bowl inside the bowl with curry and keep the piece of coal on top of it. Pour a tsp of ghee on top of the coal and immediately close the lid of the main bowl. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes. Open the lid, remove the coal piece and the small bowl and give the curry a gentle mix. Garnish the Palak Paneer with Fresh Cream. Serve hot with Naan or Phulke.

Palak Paneer Recipe

4.65 from 17 votes

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Palak Paneer Recipe

Palak Paneer is a quintessential Indian dish, a favorite across the length and breadth of India. Here is How to make Palak Paneer recipe.Palak Paneer is a quintessential Indian dish, a favorite across the length and breadth of India. 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 350 kcal

Author Neha Mathur

Ingredients

• 200 g Spinach
• 1/4 tsp Baking soda
• 2-3 Green chilli
• 4 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 3-4 Dry red chillies
• 1 cup Onion Finely chopped
• 5-6 cloves Garlic Crushed
• 1 cup Tomato Finely chopped
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 tsp Garam masala powder
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp Lemon juice
• 2 tbsp Fresh cream
• 200 g Paneer

Instructions

1. Heat water in a large pot.
2. Clean the spinach and wash it thoroughly under running water.
3. Once the water comes to a boil, add the cooking soda and spinach and blanch the spinach for 3-4 minutes.
4. Drain the water and run the spinach under cold water immediately.
5. Put the spinach a blender along with green chillies and make a smooth paste.
6. Heat oil in a pan.
7. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds and dried red chillies.
8. Let them crackle for a few seconds.
9. Add onion and garlic and fry until onion turns translucent.

10. Add tomato and cook for 3-4 minutes. You can blend the masala in a blender at this stage for a creamier gravy.

11. Now add coriander powder, garam masala powder and fry for another minute.

12. Add spinach puree and saute on high heat for minute.
13. Add paneer, salt and 1/2 cup water and bring the curry to a boil.
14. Switch off the heat and add lemon juice and mix well.
15. For the Dhungar, heat a coal piece until it is red hot. Keep a bowl inside the bowl with curry and keep the piece of coal on top of it. Pour a tsp of ghee on top of the coal and immediately close the lid of the main bowl.
16. Let it rest for 10-15 minutes.
17. Open the lid, remove the coal piece and the small bowl and give the curry a gentle mix.
18. Garnish the Palak Paneer with Fresh Cream.
19. Serve hot with Naan or Phulke.

Recipe Notes

You can give a tempering of cumin and garlic in ghee once the dish is served in the serving bowl.

You can deep fry or shallow fry the paneer cubes in little oil until browned and then add them in the gravy for a change.

If the paneer is hard, soak it in warm water for 15 minutes. It will become soft again.

If you want to make a vegan version, replace paneer wth tofu.

Add fresh cream at the end to make creamier and richer version.

Some people add aloo in the gravy and make Aloo Palak Paneer. You can even add corn to it.

Nutrition Facts

Palak Paneer Recipe

Amount Per Serving

Calories 350 Calories from Fat 261

% Daily Value*

Fat 29g45%

Saturated Fat 20g125%

Cholesterol 43mg14%

Sodium 217mg9%

Potassium 572mg16%

Carbohydrates 14g5%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 5g6%

Protein 10g20%

Vitamin A 5450IU109%

Vitamin C 77.1mg93%

Calcium 327mg33%

Iron 2.4mg13%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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