Palak Paneer

 Palak Paneer or as my friends and I called it The Delicious Green Goo.  It's a fairly simple recipe of curried spinach and cheese (paneer), but it is delicious.  Just don't forget the tequila!

Ingredients:

6 T Ghee
5-6+4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 T grated ginger
6-10 dried red chile peppers or to taste
2 small onions, finely chopped
2-3 T ground cumin (start with 2, adjust to taste in last 15 minutes of cooking)
1-2 T ground coriander (start with 1, adjust to taste in last 15 minutes of cooking)
1 t ground turmeric
1 C sour cream
2 lbs fresh baby spinach, rinsed and de-stemmed
8-12 oz paneer (or whole milk ricotta if you can't find paneer)
A little cream if necessary to thin
salt and pepper to taste
2 shots of tequila per cook (see note)

In a large saucepan heat 4 T ghee and saute cumin and coriander until fragrant, then add in the 5-6 cloves garlic, ginger, red chilies, and onion until brown. Add turmeric and sour cream (add more or less to achieve desired creaminess), stir and heat until simmering.

Take a shot of tequila.

Add the spinach, handfuls at a time; I cook while I add, meaning about an hour of cooking, followed by 45 minutes over medium-low heat, half of that covered. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Pour spinach mixture into a blender or food processor, and blend until the spinach is finely chopped. Pour back into the saucepan, add in the remaining garlic, adjust seasoning, and keep warm over low heat.  You may want to add a little extra ginger as well.   Add a little cream if the mixture seems too dry.

Take a shot of tequila. 

 

In a medium frying pan heat 2 T of ghee over medium heat, and fry cheese until browned; this is easiest if you fry it in slabs then cube it. If you're using ricotta it will seem like the cheese is melting, just leave it, checking periodically to see if it has browned; the cheese will eventually brown. Add cheese to spinach and cook for 10 minutes on low heat.  Serve with fresh naan. 

Note: the first time I made this I wasn't terribly organized and a friend of mine kept coming in to the kitchen yelling "TEQUILA!" and handing out shots. All of this resulted in a longer cooking process and being a little liberal with the spices; it also resulted in the stuff being delicious. The next time I made it there was no tequila involved and I cooked it far faster knowing what I was doing, but it was pretty horrible. The moral is, you can skip the tequila, but take your time and don't be afraid to up the spices if you think it needs it.