Paneer Tomato and Spinach Curry with rice
We brought back the paneer curry because it's as easy as Indian food can get. We've added spinach because it complements the flavor of paneer and makes this dish extra healthy.
Smarts: Paneer is an Indian cheese. If you can't find it - or want a lower fat alternative, try tofu or garbanzo beans to keep it vegetarian. Regardless of what protein you use, you'll love this easy, homemade tomato curry sauce.
Ingredients
- Rice - 1 cup
- Ghee / butter - 1 Tbsp
- Cumin seeds (optional) - 1 1/2 tsp
- Turmeric - 1/2 Tbsp
- Garlic - 4 cloves , minced
- Ginger - 1.25 cm, peeled and minced
- Jalapeno - 1, seeded and chopped
- Onions, red - 1, diced
- Tomatoes, roma - 6, diced
- Cilantro - 3 Tbsp, roughly chopped
- Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp
- Paneer - 1 lb, cubed ((sub tofu if unavailable))
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Curry powder - 1 Tbsp
- Spinach leaves - 2 cups
- Peas - 1 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Rice - Rinse until clear. Heat a saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add ghee / butter and then cumin seeds to melted fat (if not using cumin seeds, just add rice). Toast for about 1 minute and then add rice. Toast rice in the fat and then add in turmeric, some salt, and 1 1/2 cups of water for every cup of rice. Stir and then cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once water boils, stir, lower heat to a low-medium, and cover. Rice is done when it's absorbed all the water, ~15 to 20 minutes. If it's not done, leave the cover on until all water has been absorbed. Take cover off to release steam and fluff with a wooden spoon after 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Garlic / Ginger / Jalapeno / Onions / Tomatoes / Cilantro - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Paneer - Cube.
Make
- Heat a skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and then garlic, ginger, jalapeno, and onions to heated oil with a pinch of salt. Saute until softened, ~3 minutes.
- Add in tomatoes and saute until they're broken down into a sauce, 5 to 7 minutes. Add in salt and curry powder. Stir to mix.
- Add the spinach and stir to incorporate and wilt the leaves.
- Add paneer (or tofu or garbanzo beans) and peas, and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes until they're warmed through. Season to taste with salt and pepper or more curry powder. Garnish with cilantro, and enjoy over rice!
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Reviews
This meal has 66 reviews
Made this with chickpeas instead of paneer. I enjoyed it but my husband said that he'd prefer to have paneer.
Really good! Healthy, fresh, great flavor! We added garbanzo beans to paneer for extra protein and were glad we did!
Made my own paneer and added chickpeas for more protein--loved it! Super easy. Even left out the cilantro for hater boyfriend, and it was delicious.
LOVED THIS! It came together very quickly and was a delicious, satisfying weeknight meal.
Pretty decent. I ended up making my paneer as well, since my grocery store doesn't sell it. Pretty straightforward, if a little time-consuming. The curry itself was tasty, though I think I would add a little more spice (curry and related flavours, like cumin or coriander) next time. I also found that I needed to add water to the curry as I was cooking it to prevent it from drying out too much, and keeping it a little more saucy,
This had great Indian flavor, but we are not huge fans of Indian food, so it only gets 3 stars from me. It was easy, too. I used chicken breast instead of shrimp since we aren't shrimp eaters!