Ingredients
| 1 pkg | (9 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed |
| 8 oz | paneer cheese, or equivalent homemade* |
| 1 oz | fresh ginger, peeled (1 cm. piece) |
| 1 clove | garlic |
| ¼ tsp | ground turmeric |
| ¼ tsp | coriander seeds or powder |
| ½ tsp | ground chili peppers or 2 small dried chili peppers |
| ¼ cup | diced tomato (small tomato) |
| ¼ tsp | cumin seeds |
| ¼ cup | diced white onion (small onion) |
| ¼ tsp | garam masala |
| ½ tsp | salt |
| 1 ½ tbsp | ghee (or clarified butter) |
| ¼ cup | cooking oil (corn or soybean) |
Instructions
- Squeeze excess water from spinach and drain. Finely chop the spinach. Set aside.
- Cut cheese into cubes approximately 2 cm x .5 cm. Heat 1/4 cup cooking oil over medium heat in a wok or deep frying pan until almost smoking. Add cheese cubes to the oil, lowering the heat if necessary, so that the cheese does not burn. Continue frying, occasionally stirring, until the cheese is light brown, about 5 minutes. Remove with a strainer and set aside to to drain.
- Prepare spice paste: grind together in a heavy mortar or small electric coffee grinder ginger, garlic, turmeric, coriander and chili until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat ghee until almost smoking over medium heat. Lower the heat and quickly add cumin seeds and onion, stirring. Fry until brown. Add spice paste and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring. Add tomato and cook another minute, mashing the tomato with the back of a wok spatula to break it up. Add spinach and stir to combine. Add 1/4 cup water or more as desired. Add fried cheese and garam masala. Serve immediately hot with plain cooked rice (esp. basmati or jasmine). To make your own paneer see, http://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/how-to-make-paneer-homemade-paneer/ , http://showmethecurry.com/odds-ends/homemade-paneer-indian-cheese.html (video) http://www.oregonlive.com/mix/index.ssf/good-cheese/traditional-indian-cheese-paneer-can-easily-be-mad.html