Paneer has always been a big part of Indian cuisine. Whether you wish to achieve the perfect fold of paneer dosa for breakfast or make some rich and creamy palak paneer for dinner, it’s the best option for any meal. Speaking of palak paneer, did you know this dish comes in two different variants? Some call it restaurant vs home style. But we call it Palak paneer curry vs cream base. Both of these variations are a must-try! Here’s a list of 5 things you should know about palak paneer curry vs cream base.
Cashews Are The New Cream
To make palak paneer taste extra creamy and smooth, a bit of fresh cream is added to it. But, if you wish to cook your creamy palak paneer without cream, you can use cashews in it.
Cashews are not only the best option for getting creamy and rich palak paneer gravy, but they are also healthier and provide more calcium than heavy cream.
How to add cashews to palak paneer?
- Soak the cashews in water for about 10 minutes before starting to prepare your dish
- When you start blending your blanched spinach leaves, add your soaked cashews in it as well.
- This way, you’ll get a thick and creamy spinach paste.
Scroll down for the full recipe for creamy palak paneer.
How healthy is Palak Paneer?
Are you making your weight loss diet plan? Don’t forget to add palak paneer to it. This dish is very low in calories and has less fat. Other than that, spinach is a good source of nutritional fiber which helps reduce your appetite.
So if you are searching for a good low-calorie meal that is still full of nutrients, the palak paneer curry recipe will benefit you one hundred percent.
However, this might not be the same for palak paneer with cream-based palak paneer. A good amount of heavy cream or cashew nuts are required to be used in its recipe, which results in an increase in calories.
Read till the end to get the full recipe of palak paneer curry.
Make Palak Paneer Curry In Just 30 minutes.
You don’t need more than 30 minutes to cook delicious palak paneer curry. However, this might not be the case with creamy palak paneer.
For palak paneer curry, you just need to put sliced paneer or tofu cubes in your spinach paste. But for making creamy palak paneer, you have to fry your paneer cubes in olive oil or butter before putting them into the gravy.
The whole frying session adds up to the cooking time. If you don’t have much time on your hand and wish to make palak paneer, you should go for the simple palak paneer curry recipe.
How can I stop my Palak from being bitter?
Spinach contains oxalic acid, which makes it taste more bitter than other green vegetables. Simply blanching and grinding the leaves is not enough to get rid of the bitterness.
If you wish to balance out the bitter taste of your palak paneer dish, adding cream along with a half tablespoon of sugar is the best option.
To avoid extra bitterness, make sure you don’t saute the spinach leaves for a long time. If you are out of cream, you can also add yogurt or milk to it.
Note- You can also use frozen spinach for making the dishes.
Try these ricotta cheese Indian curry recipes and impress your friends and family!
Palak Paneer Curry Vs Cream Base: Same Ingredients, Different Recipes
Both palak paneer gravy and creamy palak paneer are made from the same list of ingredients (except the cream).
For cooking these dishes, you require the following items:
Vegetables
- 1 bunch of spinach (washed in cold water)
- 1-inch ginger
- 2-3 units of green chili (optional, for green color)
- Cloves garlic
- Onion
- Tomato
Spices
- 1 tsp Cumin Seeds
- 1 unit of Bay leaf
- ¼ tsp garam masala
- ¾ tsp salt
- 2 tsp kasuri methi
- Coriander seeds or coriander powder
- ½ tsp red chili powder
- ½ tbsp turmeric
- black pepper
Other Ingredients
- 1 Cup of water
- Raw Cashew or cream (only for cream-based palak paneer)
- Olive oil
- Butter
- Paneer/ Indian cottage cheese
Tip- It is suggested to use homemade paneer instead of store-bought paneer as it’s fresh, creamy, and smoother in texture.
If we talk about the cooking process, it’s different for both variants. Let’s take a look at individual recipes of both palak paneer curry and palak paneer with a cream base.
Make restaurant-style dal makhani at home with this dal makhani masala powder.
Palak Paneer Curry Recipe
- Prepare your vegetables by finely chopping onions and tomatoes.
- Take a saucepan and add one tablespoon of oil and let it heat.
- Add bay leaf, cumin seeds, and garlic cloves and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Now add chopped onions to the saucepan and start putting kasuri methi once the onions turn golden brown.
- After one minute, add chopped tomatoes and add salt, red chili powder, garam masala, black pepper, and turmeric.
- Let it cook for 5-10 minutes.
- Add some water to make a purée and keep cooking.
- While your tomato-onion purée is getting cooked, take another pan and start cooking water-soaked spinach leaves.
- After cooking for 5-6minutes, take a blender and add blanched spinach leaves, ginger, and green chilies in it.
- Blend until you achieve a thick spinach sauce.
- Start pouring the paste into the tomato onion puree and stir for a few minutes.
- Add one tablespoon of butter to the gravy.
- Slice your paneer into cubes and add them to the gravy.
- Stir again for 1-2 minutes, and your palak paneer curry is ready to serve!
Find explained recipe video here:
Do you love cooking paneer dishes? Consider this best shahi paneer masala brand for a delicious taste!
Palak Paneer with Cream Base Recipe
- Start by heating up a saucepan and add 5 crushed garlic cloves, ½ roughly diced onion, sliced ginger, chopped green chilies, and roughly sliced large tomato in it.
- Turn the gas into a high flame and add 2 tbsp of olive oil from the top.
- Now add salt and start cooking the vegetables for 5 minutes.
- Now take a blender and add one cup of boiling water, ½ cup of not salted cashew nuts, and cooked vegetables in it.
- Take 4 cups of washed spinach and cook them on medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the blanched spinach into the blender jar along with other ingredients and start blending. Keep blending until you achieve a smooth paste.
- Now take a saucepan and add one tbsp oil to it. After 1 minute, start adding coriander seeds, turmeric, cumin seeds, garam masala, black pepper, and red chili powder to the pan.
- Toast the spices for a few minutes and add the pureed spinach gravy to the pan.
- Stir for a minute and add some heavy cream from the top.
- Now take your paneer or tofu and cut them into cubes.
- Saute your paneer cubes in a pan for 1 minute and add them to the gravy.
- Your delicious palak paneer with a creamy base is ready to serve!
These dishes are served best with basmati rice, chapaati, and naan.
After palak paneer curry vs cream base, here’s another comparison of palak paneer vs saag paneer for you!
