Fresh, non-melting white cheese popular in north Indian cuisine. Also called cottage cheese. Tastes best when made at home, by curdling heated milk with food acid like lemon juice or vinegar. The light taste and texture of paneer pairs well with strongly spiced curries.
What do you do to get this lovely lush color in your palak paneer, I am asked.
I’ll let out my secret today.
As they tell you in Kung Fu Panda, the secret of the secret ingredient is that there is no secret ingredient. Which means that my palak paneer looks that way not because of what I add to it, but because of what I do not add to it.
A plus of cooking only for yourself is the chance it gives you for daring experimentation. Do whatever. Relish it if it turns out brilliant, commit it to memory (and blog) for treating others in future. Shrug it off if it does not; it is only one that suffered through it.
Feeling blue? Liven it up with a bright red, green and white curry. The lovely concoction of colors and flavors in paneer capsicum curry is also surprisingly easy to put together.