Nepal Youth Foundation, Nepal, January 2012

Saag Paneer

Susan Rixey/ January 2012

• 2 pounds fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
• 1/4 cup ghee or butter
• 1/2 pound cubed paneer cheese
• 2 yellow onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• Salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in the spinach and blanch for 1 minute until very tender. Dump the spinach into a colander and press firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, set aside.

Heat the ghee in a deep skillet over medium-high flame. Add the cubed paneer and fry for a couple of minutes until light brown on all sides, gently turning to avoid breaking up the cubes. Remove the cheese from the skillet and set aside.
Return the skillet to the heat and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger; cook and stir for about 5 minutes until soft. Sprinkle the mixture with the curry powder; continue to stir to marry the flavors, about 1 minute. Fold in the chopped spinach and give everything a good toss. Shut off the heat and stir thebuttermilk and yogurt into the spinach to incorporate. The mixture should be creamy and somewhat thick. Gently fold in the fried paneer cubes, season with salt, to taste, and serve with steamed basmati rice and/or flat bread.