Vegan Palak Paneer (Gluten Free, Allergen Friendly)

If you love Indian food, chances are you have tried palak paneer at an Indian restaurant. I don’t know about you, but when we go out for Indian food, palak paneer is the one dish we always get. Palak is Indian spinach and paneer is Indian cottage cheese. We love the spices in the spinach sauce and the soft chewy richness of the paneer. A few weekends ago, I made palak paneer at home! And the flavours of the spinach sauce was spot on and Dorian thought it was a restaurant quality dish. *Winning* Because I didn’t have any paneer at home, I used firm tofu instead (but paneer will work just fine). I also made it healthier by not using thicken cream to flavour the spinach sauce. So, this dish is vegan, gluten free and delicious. I am very proud of this dish and I would like to share this recipe with all of you 😊

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have. As always, please let me know what you think of this recipe. If you like what you see on this blog, you can follow me on my blog, Facebook or Instagram for some food porn. Also, if you do recreate this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @subz_foodie 🙂

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

For the spinach sauce

• 1 tbsp olive oil;
• 2 garlic cloves, minced;
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced;
• 1 fresh chilli, sliced;
• 250g baby spinach;
• 1/4 cup cashews, soaked in 1/2 cup hot water; and
• 1/4 almond/soy milk (I used Almond Breeze almond milk).

For the dish

• 1 tbsp coconut oil; 
• 2 sprigs curry leaves (15-20 curry leaves);
• 3 cardamom pods, crushed;
• 1 cinnamon stick;
• 1 red onion, sliced;
• 1 fresh chilli, sliced;
• 150g tomatoes, chopped;
• 1 tsp curry powder;
• 1 tsp cumin ground;
• 1 tsp garam masala;
• San Elk veggie stock or salt to taste; and
• 300g tofu/paneer, cut into cubes & pan fried in 1 tbsp olive oil.

Method

For the spinach sauce

1. Heat a pan on medium high heat and then, pour the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, fry the garlic, ginger & chilli until fragrant;
   
2. Then add the spinach and sauté for 3-5 minutes until wilted. Switch the heat off; and
   
   
3. In a blender, place the spinach mixture, soaked cashews (including the water) and soy milk and blend until smooth. Set aside.
   
   

For the dish

1. Heat a pan on medium high heat and then, pour the coconut oil. Once the oil is hot, temper the curry leaves, cardamom pods and cinnamon stick until fragrant;
   
   
2. Then, add the onions and chilli and fry until it starts to caramelise. If it starts to stick to the pan, add some water;
   
   
3. Then, add the tomatoes and stir fry until it starts to break down and becomes caramel-y.
4. Then add the blended spinach sauce, curry powder, cumin, garam masala & veggie stock/salt to taste and stir until well combined and the sauce starts to bubble. You will want to add slightly more salt if you are using paneer as the paneer will absorb a lot of salt (as it is not salty). You can also add more water if you prefer you spinach sauce runnier;
   
   
5. Finally, add the pan fried tofu/paneer and stir fry until well combined and tofu/paneer is hot. Switch off the heat; and
   
   
6. Serve with basmati rice, quinoa or naan bread 😊 Enjoy.

Happy cooking,

Suba

Xx 💋