Palak Paneer with Collard Greens

May 7, 2013

As some people know,  I got fired from my job recently after not even 4 months being there.  They said the reason being that I was “behind in my training”.  Ironically enough I skipped my global cuisine class to stay after work for three hours to do some training the night before I was fired.

We were cooking Indian that night so I have to write a paper to make up that night.  I been reading recently about the Moghuls and their influence on Indian cuisine.  They brought many dishes and techniques to India when the reigned from 1526 to 1757. One of these is Palak Paneer.  This is a vegetarian dish which a farmer’s cheese, paneer,  is combined  with greens, tomatoes, and onions.

Oscar and I went to the community garden to get ready to plant and low and behold there were bushels of collard greens that had lived through the winter.  My light bulb went off.  Here is a healthy dish to help you get some dark leafy greens in your diet.

1-2 bunches of Collard or your favorite green loosely chopped (this will be pureed so you can leave most the stem)

1 onion roughly chopped

1 can of diced tomatoes

4 cloves garlic pressed

1 knob of ginger about the size of your thumb chopped

1 TBS of Patak’s Hot curry paste in the jar(sure you could make your own mix but I made this while caring for a 20 month old and it is damn good)

2 TBS of olive oil

a healthy squirt of Sriracha

2 tablespoons cumin

2 teaspoons coriander seeds whole

2 TBS sugar or honey

1/4 cup of cider vinegar

1/2 cup of veggie stock or water

1 package of paneer(sometimes sold in a block or sometimes already cubed.)

1/4 cup heavy cream (optional but gives better mouth feel and flavor)

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Put all above ingredients into a pressure cooker and cook for 15 minutes once under full pressure. Take off heat and let cool for a while until you can safely immersion blend the greens.  Start cooking some basmati rice using 1 cup of rice to 2 cups of water method.  Blend the greens mix until pretty smooth.

Now you  put the pressure cooker back on the burner and add your paneer.  Simmer on low and seasons dish with salt, and more spice.  You can add a splash of heavy cream to tighten things up if you want.

Serve over rice and enjoy