Palak Paneer is also called Sag Paneer in the United States. "Saag" just means any green leafy vegetable, like spinach, collard greans, mustard greens etc. "Palak" is the specific term for spinach.

I hadn't made this in ages. Then, two people told me that Palak Paneer is their most favourite Indian dish and I thought that maybe it's time for me to make this again. Now with my new food processor, blending the spinach to a smooth texture was just so easy! You could use a blender just as easily too. Or if you have neither, just chop the spinach into very small pieces before the blanching and you will do quite well even without the blending process. The texture will be a little different, but will taste just as good. Just remember to pull out the whole spices after the first step and before you add the chopped onions. You may want to chop your onions finely if you are not going to blend it, but that's entirely your choice of what you want the final texture to be like.

Recipe:

WHOLE SPICES:
1 1-inch piece cinnamon
1 bay leaf
2-3 green cardamom pods, slightly bruised
2 cloves
1 dried red chilli

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
8-oz paneer, cut into cubes
2 10-oz bags of fresh spinach (I think you can use frozen too. Just blanch longer to thaw the spinach.)
2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 tablespoons ginger-garlic paste (or use 2/3 tablespoon each of finely minced ginger and garlic)
2/3 cup chopped tomatoes (If using canned diced tomatoes, add a little bit 4 tablespoons of the juice as well)
1/4 cup yoghurt
2-3 tablespoons half-n-half or milk
2.5 tablespoons kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves)

GROUND SPICES:
1/2 tablespoon cumin powder
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

Method:

Bring a big pot of water to a boil. Add a little salt and bring back to a boil. Blanch the spinach in the boiling, salted water for 2-3 minutes. Do NOT cover. Covering spinach while it cooks dulls the bright green colour as volatile acids in the spinach that would have normally escaped now cannot do so.

While waiting for the spinach to be done, beat the yoghurt with the half-n-half or milk until smooth and creamy.

Remove the spinach to a colander. Rinse immediately with very cold water. Squeeze out excess liquid from the spinach leaves and set aside.

Heat the ghee or oil in a pan. When hot add the whole spices. Stir. When the spices release their aroma and the dried chilli starts to turn dark, add the onions. Fry for a couple minutes and then add a teaspoon of salt. Stir every now and then until the onions are golden brown. Now add the ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes along with any juices they have released and fry until oil seems to ooze out of the tomatoes. Add all the ground spices and turn the heat down immediately or else the spices will burn. Crush the kasuri methi leaves between your palms  and add to the pan. Sprinkle a little water from time to time if it seems like the spices are burning. Take the pan off of the heat and add the yoghurt mixture, slowly, a little bit at a time, so that the yoghurt doesn't curdle.

Turn the heat back up to medium, add the spinach and stir to combine everything. Now dump into a food processor and pulse until smooth. Retun to the pan and add the paneer cubes. If the texture is too thick, add a little half-n-half to thin it out; if too thin, just evaporate off some liquid on medium heat. The spinach should not be covered at any point in the cooking process.

Add in the cubes of paneer. I used to always pan-fry thepaneer cubes, but I recently discovered that they will be soft and tasty even if you don't. Just allow the paneer to absorb some heat from the rest of the dish and it will doften to a rich, deliciously creamy texture.