Palak Paneer

Ingredients-
Serves 4

Paneer - 10 cubes of 2 inches long each
Fresh Spinach – 5 oz
Tomato Puree of 2 large fresh tomatoes
Milk (optional) – 1/2 cup
Coriander powder – 1tbsp
Cumin powder- 1tsp
Aniseed/Saunf powder – 1tsp
Red chili powder – 1tsp
ginger paste – 1tsp
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Bay Leaves- 1-2
Black cardamom – 1
Green cardamom – 1
Cinnamon stick – 1 inch
turmeric powder- ½ tsp

Note- If the Paneer is hard soak them in warm water after frying with pinch of salt for 5-10 min. I prefer blanching over boiling spinach.For blanching, fill a large pot with water, bring it to a boil and add pre-washed spinach leaves. Don't cover it. Blanch the spinach for approximately 30 seconds or until they turn a brilliant green. Remove the spinach from the pot with a slotted spoon and drain. Plunge the leaves into a bowl of ice/cold water to stop the cooking. Drain the leaves.

Method -
Make pure of blanched spinach (try not to use water, if required used ¼ cup of water). It makes around 2 to 2 ½ cups pure. Take all the powdered spices and ginger paste in a bowl, add ¼ cup of water and make paste of it. Shallow fry the paneer on non-stick pan with 1 tsp oil. You can deep fry the Paneers too. Keep it aside. Now, in a pan take butter/ghee/oil, add all the whole spices. Now add the prepared paste. Roast it for 5-8 seconds on medium flame till oil starts appearing on the surface. Now add chopped onions. Stir it well. Allow it to cook till onions become translucent in color and oil starts separating from side. Add Tomato Pure. Cover and cook on medium heat till it becomes red it color. Now add the spinach pure. Cover it and cook for 2-3 minutes so that raw taste of spinach goes away. Now add fried paneer. Cover it and cook it on slow flame for another 2-3 min. If it looks too thick add ½ cup of milk instead of water which makes the dish rich too. You can add cream also but to avoid the calories I prefer adding milk. Garnish with cream or coriander leaves and serve hot with Rice, pulav or parathas :)