30-minute Instant Pot recipe for Palak Paneer, or Saag Paneer, a popular Indian curry made with soft paneer cubes simmered in a flavorful spinach gravy.
Prep: Coarsely chop or slice onions, ginger and garlic. Chop paneer cubes in ½ inch cubes. Wash the baby spinach, if not pre-washed.
Turn on the Instant Pot on SAUTE (high). When it displays 'hot', add oil and cumin seeds. When cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add onions, ginger, garlic, chili, and sauté for about 1 minute, till onions turn translucent.
Add salt and spices and stir well. Add ½ cup water and use it to deglaze the pot. Add baby spinach with ½ cup water and close the lid. Hit 'cancel' and set pressure valve to SEALING position. Cook on Manual or Pressure cook for 0 minutes.
After pressure cooking is done, release the pressure manually (QR). Using an immersion blender, puree the spinach mix. If the quantity is less for blending, tilt the pot a bit.
Turn on SAUTE (medium). Stir in paneer cubes and simmer for 1 minute, till paneer cubes become soft. Turn off the Instant Pot. Stir in butter. This adds a silky smooth finish to the sauce, and gives it a gorgeous shine. Serve hot with cumin rice or naan. Enjoy!
Stove-Top Recipe
Heat a deep sauce pan on medium high heat. Since spinach puree tends to splash when simmering, using a deep sauce pan prevents it from messing the cooktop.
Add oil and cumin seeds. When cumin seeds begin to sizzle, add crushed ginger and garlic. Add sliced onion and green chili, and sauté for a minute.
Add salt, spices and stir well. Then, add ¾ cup water, stir, cover the pan and cook for about 5-7 minutes on medium heat.
Open the lid and add ½ bag of baby spinach and stir to wilt, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining spinach and wilt for around 2 minutes. Saute for another 1 minute. Turn off the heat. Using a hand immersion blender puree the spinach mix. Add a little water if needed.
Turn the heat back on to medium, add paneer cubes and simmer for 1 min, till paneer cubes become soft. Turn off the heat. Stir in butter, this adds a silky smooth finish to the sauce, and gives it a gorgeous shine.
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Notes
This recipe has been tested in 3qt and 6 qt Instant Pot DUO and ULTRA models.
Cook time = Pressure cooking time, which in this case is '0' mins.
Estimated Total time: Prep: 10 mins, Saute: 2-3 mins, Pressure Build-up time: 10 mins +/-, Pressure Cooking Time: 0 mins, Saute: 1 min, Total time: 25 mins.
This recipe can be made with any greens of your choice. Some alternatives that have worked well for me are baby kale or regular kale, mustard greens, a mix of collard greens and spinach.
To avoid the spinach from splattering, tilt the pot a bit till the blender is completely submerged in sauce and that does the trick.
Note: The nutrition facts below are my estimates. If you are following any diet plan, I recommend cross-checking with your preferred nutrition calculator.