Palak Paneer with Butter Garlic Naan

I made this during one of the days of Pujo and although it has two recipes I will post it as one. Paneer is a type of Indian cheese; I have never had Ricotta cheese but I heard that the taste and texture of paneer is similar to that. I made the naan for the first time and it turned out really well and I am going to include it in our regular menu more often. Naan is a type of bread and can be made in various ways, some use curd/yogurt or eggs, but this tastes like the naan I am used to eating, so you can give it a try.

Prep time: 1 hour 30 min Baking time: 1 1/2 min each Servings: 6-8Ingredients:

Warm water: 1 cup

Active dry yeast: 2 ¼ tsp or a 0.25 ounce packet

Milk: 3 tbsp

Egg: 1 (optional)

All-purpose flour/ maida: 4 ½ cups (You can also use equal amount of ata/wheat flour and maida/all-purpose flour)

Salt: 2 tsp

Sugar: 1/4^thcup

Butter: 4 tbsp

Chopped garlic: 6 tsp

1) Dissolve yeast in warm water for 10 minutes till it becomes frothy.

2) Mix sugar, salt, milk, beaten egg and the yeast mixture with the flour and knead well for at least 10 minutes.

3) Put the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with a damp cloth. Leave it to rise for at least 1 hour. It will be double the size after that. (The picture below does not refer to this point!)

4) Punch and knead the dough and sprinkle the garlic on it and knead again. Make bigger balls than you make for rotis, something like parathas, as the naan is thicker. Cover the balls with a damp cloth for 5 minutes.

5) In the meantime, set your oven/grill to the highest temperature or on broil.

6) Roll the balls into circles or elongated circles (or whatever shape you want) and place them on the grill. I tried something which turned out great, if you have a good cake/pie mould, turn the mould and place the naan on top of it. It works like a tandoor and bakes evenly.7) After placing them in the oven, brush some butter on top and bake for 60 seconds. Then take it out, turn it on the other side, brush it with butter and bake for 45 seconds. Be very careful with the time as it differs from oven to oven. The naan tends to burn very easily and cooks fast in high heat, so for the first time just check on it to get the right timing.

Done done done.

Prep time: 30 min Cooking time: 15 min Serves: 4

Spinach/palak: 1 medium to large bunch

Paneer: 350 gms, cut into small cubes (immerse them in water to keep them soft until you cook them)

Peas (optional): ½ cup

Chopped garlic: 2 tsp

Chillies: 2 large

Vegetable stock/water: 1 cup

Cumin seeds: 1 tsp

Cloves: 1

Coriander powder: 1 tsp

Ghee: 2 tbsp

Fresh cream/ sour cream (optional): 3/4 cup

Salt to taste

Sugar: 1 pinch

Butter: 1 tbsp

1) Wash spinach leaves thoroughly and boil them with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes.

2) Meanwhile, toast or lightly brown the pieces of paneer and keep aside.

3) Drain and cool the spinach and blend it with chopped chillies into a puree.

4) In a pan, heat ghee and add cumin seeds and the clove. After they splutter, fry garlic and add the coriander powder.

5) Stir in the spinach puree, peas, sugar and salt and cook for 5 minutes. Add the paneer and vegetable stock/water and cook for 2-3 minutes.

6) At this point you can add the cream and adjust the amount of cream according to your taste. For eg, A likes it with less cream and prefers the ‘spinachy’ taste, so I just add a bit of cream. (The gravy now changes from a beautiful dark green colour to light green, pretty pretty!)

7) Cook for 5 minutes or till the oil starts separating from the gravy. Add a dollop of butter (again, optional but c’mon how can you say no to butter!)

Serve with hot rice, parathas or naan.