Indian Curried Spinach Dip Recipes

SPINACH CURRY (INDIAN PALAK CURRY)

Steps:

• Rinse and chop onions, spinach, ginger, garlic and green chillies.

QUICK AND EASY SAAG BHAJI {SPINACH CURRY}

Steps:

• Heat the oil & butter on medium-high heat in a large, nonstick frying pan. Add the chopped onion and fry until it starts to brown.
• Add the minced garlic and cook another minute. Add the ginger and cook another minute.
• Add the cumin, turmeric, garam masala, and tomato paste. Stir to combine. Slowly stir in the stock, followed by the cilantro.
• Add the spinach cook until it wilts season to taste.

PALAK PANEER - INDIAN SPINACH CURRY WITH HOMEMADE FRESH CHEESE

Steps:

• Saute onion & spices: Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, salt and pepper. Cook for 3 minutes until onion is softened but not golden.
• Add garlic and ginger, cook for 2 minutes.
• Add the tomato and chilli, cook for 3 minutes on a medium heat.
• Add spinach: Add about 1/3 of the spinach - or as much as you can handle in the pot (!) - and stir until wilted. Then add more spinach along with the water, cook again until wilted. Repeat until all the spinach is wilted.
• Cook 10 minutes: Cook, stirring every now and then, for 10 minutes still on a medium heat.
• Cream & lemon: Add the cream and lemon juice. Cook, stirring gently, for 3 minutes.
• Puree half spinach: Remove half the spinach into a tall container and blend it to a puree using a stick blender. Pour pureed spinach back into the pot, and stir to combine.
• Add Pan Fried Paneer: Gently stir in golden pan-fried paneer (see below). Stir gently to mix through.
• Serve over basmati rice with fluffy, chewy homemade naan on the side!

SAAG PANEER

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the turmeric, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil. Gently, drop in the cubes of paneer and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes if you're using the homemade kind. Let the cubes marinate while you get the rest of your ingredients together and prepped.
• Thaw the spinach in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish, 5 minutes on high, then puree in a food processor until smooth. Alternatively, you can chop it up very finely with your knife.
• Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add the paneer as the pan warms. In a couple of minutes give the pan a toss; each piece of paneer should be browned on one side. Fry another minute or so, and then remove the paneer from the pan onto a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the pan. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and chile. Now here's the important part: saute the mixture until it's evenly toffee-coloured, which should take about 15 minutes. Don't skip this step - this is the foundation of the dish! If you feel like the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.
• Add the garam masala, coriander and cumin. If you haven't already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spices from burning. Cook, stirring often, until the raw scent of the spices cook out, and it all smells a bit more melodious, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the spinach and stir well, incorporating the spiced onion mixture into the spinach. Add a little salt and 1/2 cup of water, stir, and cook about 5 minutes with the lid off.
• Turn the heat off. Add the yogurt, a little at a time to keep it from curdling. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the paneer. Turn the heat back on, cover and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve.
• Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink.
• In a large wide pot, bring the milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom (a nonstick pot works really well for this purpose). This will take a little while so be patient!
• Add the lemon juice and turn the heat down to low. Stirring gently, you should almost immediately see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) separate. Don't fret, this is perfect!
• Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour the contents into the cheesecloth-lined colander. Gently rinse with cool water to get rid of the lemon flavor. At this point, you could squeeze out some of the liquid, and serve with some honey and some nuts, almost like a fresh ricotta!
• Grab the ends of the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese to squeeze out the excess whey. Tie the cheesecloth to your kitchen faucet and allow the cheese to drain for about 5 minutes.
• Twisting the ball to compact the cheese into a block, place it on a plate with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side (this will ensure your block of cheese is nice and smooth!) and set another plate on top. Weigh the second plate down with cans of beans or a heavy pot. Move to the refrigerator and let it sit about 20 minutes.
• Combine the cinnamon sticks, cloves, green cardamom seeds, black cardamom seeds, if using into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind until fine. Store the spice mix in an airtight container away from direct sunlight.

EASY INDIAN CURRY DIP

Steps:

• Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, curry powder, turmeric, onion, lemon juice, garlic salt, cumin, and cayenne in a bowl. Stir until well combined. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

CURRIED SPINACH DIP

Steps:

• Stir curry and cumin in small dry skillet over medium-low heat just until fragrant, about 45 seconds. Remove from heat.
• Combine chopped spinach, nonfat sour cream, nonfat yogurt and minced garlic in processor. Blend until spinach is pureed. Add curry mixture and hot sauce and process until blended. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)