Palak paneer

Palak paneer is a North Indian curry of paneer (a fresh, non-melting Indian cheese) in a thick, smooth gravy made from puréed spinach (palak in Hindi). The spinach is blanched and blended with onion, tomato, ginger, garlic, and green chili, then simmered with cubed paneer, cream or butter, and finishing spices such as garam masala and kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves). The result is a deep green, mildly spiced, creamy dish that pairs especially well with roti, naan, or jeera rice.

Palak paneer is a staple of Punjabi cuisine and is widely served in Indian restaurants globally. The dish is closely related to saag paneer, which uses a mixture of slow-cooked greens rather than just spinach, and to palak chhena, the Eastern-Indian variant that uses chhena (a softer, crumblier fresh cheese) instead of paneer. A vegetarian staple, palak paneer is a popular source of protein, calcium, and iron in vegetarian Indian diets.

The vivid green color of the gravy comes from fresh spinach, ideally blanched briefly to set the color before being puréed. A pinch of kasuri methi added at the end provides an earthy, slightly bitter aroma that is characteristic of the dish and distinguishes it from a generic spinach curry. Paneer, the cheese, is made by curdling milk with lemon juice or vinegar, then draining and pressing the curds; it holds its shape during cooking and provides a chewy, mild counterpoint to the rich gravy. The dish is sometimes made with spinach alone and sometimes with a blend of spinach and other greens such as mustard greens or fenugreek, depending on the region and the cook.

[Source: Wikipedia — Palak paneer, accessed 2026-10-17, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palak_paneer]