Adventures in Cooking with Kiva: A delicious dinner of palak paneer
One of the great things about Kiva is the way it inspires us to learn about people and cultures in all corners of the world. I have always loved Indian food, but I assumed it would be too difficult for me to cook myself. Recently, I decided to take the leap and try making my favorite Indian dish, palak paneer (spinach with farmer’s cheese). If you’re feeling inspired you can also check out one of Kiva’s deserving borrowers in India!
Palak Paneer (serves 4)
1/2 galloon whole milk
2–3 Tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice
16–18 oz. baby spinach
1 onion
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp fresh ginger root
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground mustard seed
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cardomom
2 Tbsp ghee (or butter) cream or plain yogurt
The first step is to make the paneer — it’s surprisingly easy, but it needs to be done a few hours (or even a day) before making the rest of the dish. Start by bringing a half gallon of whole milk to a low boil in a large pot, stirring occasionally. Once the milk is boiling, turn down the heat and add the lemon juice, one tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition.
After the second or third addition, the curds will separate from the whey. Make sure to continue adding lemon juice until you get large curds, like in the picture below.
Pour the curds and whey through a cheesecloth (it helps to lay the cheesecloth inside a strainer), and rinse them under running water to remove any citrus flavor.
Twist up the cheesecloth and hang it over the sink for about 30 minutes to drain. Then squish the cheese, still in the cloth, between two cutting boards, weighted with books. After 2–3 hours, transfer the cheese to the refrigerator.
When you’re ready to make the rest of the dish, take the paneer out of the refrigerator, cut it into cubes, and set it aside. Dice the garlic and ginger (use a food processor to speed things up). Measure out the spices and add them to the garlic and ginger in small bowl. Give the onions a rough chop. Heat 1 tablespoon ghee in a large pot on medium heat, and add the onions and salt. Cook 5–7 minutes until onions are translucent. Add the garlic, ginger and spices, and cook for another 2–3 minutes. Now add the canned tomatoes and stir everything together well, scraping any spices off the bottom of the pan.
Meanwhile, brown the paneer cubes in 1 tablespoon of ghee in a frying pan.
Wash the spinach and add it to the pot with the onions and tomatoes. Stir occasionally, until the spinach has reduced — this will take about 10 minutes.
Add a splash of cream or yogurt, to taste, and then use an immersion blender to give the whole mixture a rough chop. Once the paneer is lightly browned, stir it into the spinach mixture. Serve with naan or basmati rice.
Naan
1 ½ tsp active dry yeast
3 tsp sugar
2 2/3 c all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 ¼ tsp fine sea salt
¼ tsp baking powder
¼ c plain yogurt
2 Tbsp & 2 tsp extra-virgin olive Oil
1 c water
Melted butter for brushing on the finished naans
Coarse sea salt for sprinkling
(Recipe is based on Food Network’s naan recipe.)
Warm the water and dissolve 2 tsp sugar and the yeast in it. Let it sit until bubbly. Meanwhile, mix the flour, salt, baking powder and remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the yogurt and oil to yeast mixture and stir them together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until just combined.
Knead it just a few times with your hands — the dough will be very soft and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place to rise for 2–4 hours, until it looks like this:
Divide the dough into six to eight equal sized rounds, and roll each in flour so they don’t stick together (the dough will still be very soft and sticky).
Heat up a griddle on the stovetop, to medium hot. Then, one at a time, stretch out each dough ball into a rough oval shape and gently lay it on the skillet. Sprinkle it with sea salt, and as soon as the dough starts to bubble, (after about 1 minute), flip the naan over and cover it with a pan or lid for about another 30 seconds or so.
Remove the naan to a plate lined with a towel, and brush both sides with melted butter. Serve warm, with palak paneer! Check out more recipes, travel tips and news from Kiva here>
