This Palak Paneer Bhurji is a healthy variation to the regular bhurji and made with fresh spinach leaves, paneer, onions, tomatoes, herbs and spices. It can be served as a side dish to go with chapati or bread or paratha.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Breakfast, Snacks
  • Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 tej patta (- small-sized)
  • ½ cup onions (- finely chopped, 65 grams)
  • ½ teaspoon ginger garlic paste
  • ½ cup tomatoes (- finely chopped & tightly packed, 143 grams)
  • 1 to 2 green chillies (- chopped)
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¼ teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 2 cups spinach (- chopped, 130 grams)
  • 200 grams paneer (- crumbled)
  • salt (as required)
  • ¼ teaspoon garam masala
  • few drops of lemon juice
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons paneer (- grated/shredded or grated cheese, optional)
  • 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (- chopped, optional)

Method

Preparation

  1. Rinse spinach leaves very well in water. Then chop them. You will need 2 cups of chopped spinach.
  2. Also finely chop the onion, tomatoes and green chilies. Keep aside.
  3. Crumble paneer and keep aside.

Making paneer palak bhurji

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and tej patta. Saute till the cumin crackles. Instead of oil, you can also use butter or ghee.
  2. Now add the finely chopped onions.
  3. Stir and saute onions on a low to medium heat.
  4. Sauté until the onions turn a light brown.
  5. Add ginger-garlic paste. Stir and sauté until the raw aroma of both ginger and garlic dissipates.
  6. Then add ½ cup tightly packed finely chopped tomatoes and 1 to 2 green chilies, chopped.
  7. Mix well and saute the tomatoes on a low to medium heat.
  8. Saute till the tomatoes soften and become mushy.
  9. Then add turmeric powder and red chilli powder. Mix well.
  10. Add the chopped spinach leaves.
  11. Mix the spinach leaves very well with the onion tomato masala.
  12. Cover the pan with a lid and on a low heat simmer till the spinach leaves wilt.
  13. Do check a couple of times when the spinach is cooking
  14. Once the spinach is cooked, you will see some water/gravy in the pan.
  15. On a low to medium heat, cook until all the water evaporates.
  16. Then add the crumbled paneer. Also add salt.
  17. Add ¼ teaspoon garam masala powder.
  18. Mix very well and saute for 1 minute on a low heat till the paneer is cooked. Do not cook too much as then the paneer will get chewy.
  19. Serve Palak Paneer Bhurji garnished with some grated paneer or cheese and a few chopped coriander leaves.
  20. Also drizzle some lemon juice before serving or you can keep it aside. But do not forget lemon juice as the paneer palak bhurji tastes very good with a dash of lemon juice added on top of it.
  21. Serve with chapatis or phulkas or parathas. Also goes very well with bread.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.