Palak Paneer

I've been dying to make this recipe from Mahanandi for a while. The CSA boxes had spinach and I love palak paneer. Paneer is an Indian cheese and palak paneer, unlike it's mustard greens/spinach cousin saag paneer, is made entirely of spinach. I cheated a little bit because we had chard from the CSA, so I added it.

The biggest mistake was not toasting the ground spices alone with the onions. It was a long day at work and I wanted dinner to be done as quickly as possible. Instead of grinding the spices separately, I put them into the food processor with the onions, garlic, ginger, and cilantro and diced them all together. As a result, the spices didn't break up as much as I wanted them to. With the moisture from the onions, there was no way to toast them to bring out their flavor. Note that the onions go first, then the spices, then the garlic-ginger-cilantro paste. While they all end up in the same place, giving each component individual cooking time really intensifies the flavors.

The end result could have used more liquid, but it wasn't too bad overall. It tasted really good with D.'s basmati rice, cooked with chicken broth and butter.

Next time, I'll take the time to follow the directions exactly. Thanks to Indira of Mahanandi for the recipe!