This is an American version of the popular and traditional Indian dish called palak paneer or “spinach with cheese.” The recipe is designed to be easy for anyone to follow, without requiring tedious and difficult traditional cooking methods (such as making ghee or clarified butter). You’ll find that it brings you quite within range of the age-old recipe, which, I’m told, is actually a Pakastani dish, not an Indian dish.

What you’ll need:

12 cups of canned spinach (with no additives — just spinach)
1 stick of butter
3 large cinnamon sticks
6-8 hot peppers
6 tablespoons of powdered cumin
4 tablespoons of yellow curry powder
6 peeled potatoes, cut in large chunks (or use farmers cheese or extra firm tofu for the cheese version)
2 small limes cleaned and cut in half
3 tablespoons salt
2 tablespoons ground cardamom (or one tablespoon fresh cardamom)
3 tablespoons ground coriander
2 cups half-n-half, soy milk, or hemp milk
1 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

Put everything except the cilantro into a large pressure cooker and mix over a medium flame with the lid off until the butter melts and everything is well mixed. Then secure the lid and cook under pressure for 30 minutes (that’s 30 minutes of hissing pressure). Remove from heat and wait before removing the lid. Serve over Basmati rice and top with chopped cilantro.

NOTE: This dish improves as the spices have time to permeate the spinach. The second and third days are the best!

Photo credits