Low Fat Paalak Paneer

Talk about Paalak Paneer and hot home-made rotis and no one will be left not wanting it. Atleast, it is so in our household. This iron rich preparation is a favourite among our orders at restaurants when our family dines out. Unfortunately for us, along with the iron comes a good portion of fat and empty calories from the heavy cream that chefs like to add to most North Indian dishes and gravies in particular....not to mention, the fried paneer!! So save yourself from those extra servings of flab and try this recipe where I totally omit frying the paneer and use low fat yogurt instead of heavy cream. This one is not only high on taste, but on health too!!

Ingredients 6 Cups Fresh Spinach (paalak) - Washed and drained
Paneer cubes (as much or as little as you desire!)
1/2 Large Onion - Chopped
1 Large Tomato - Cubed
1/2 cup Yogurt (low fat/fat free)
3 Green chillies (add more if you like it really hot)
3 Cloves of garlic
1 tsp Garam Masala (whole or powdered)
Oil
And, of course, salt to taste!


Method
- Soak paneer cubes in warm water and set aside. If you are using frozen paneer, thaw/defrost it before you do this step
- In the blender toss the green chillies, tomato and yogurt and blend to a fine, smooth paste
- Remove this paste into a separate bowl and set aside
- In a wok, heat about a tea-spoon of oil and add the garlic cloves and fry for about a minute
- Add onions and fry until they turn translucent. Add the garam masala and stir.
- Now toss in the spinach and stir until it wilts
- Set aside this mixture to cool
- Once cool, blend this fried mixture to a fine paste as well
- Now in a saucepan, heat some oil and add the 'spinach' mixture that you just blended and fry for a stir for a seconds.
- Next add the tomato mixture and stir in. Add salt.
- Toss in the paneer cubes (which should be really soft by now in the warm water) and cover and simmer for about 5-8 minutes, stirring occassionally


Noteworthy Notes
1. You can switch the paneer with tofu if you are not a paneer fan or simply want to stay away from the calories it can stash on!
2. Skip the paneer/tofu entirely if you want just the gravy made with spinach for rice preparations.


Serving Suggestion
Serve hot with home-made rotis, lemon wedges and onions

SERVES 2