A delicious, nutritious and easy weeknight meal option, Kale Paneer is a fabulously modern take on the famous Indian vegetarian dish - Palak Paneer. Can be made with fresh or frozen kale. The curry freezes well and transports beautifully for work lunches.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time25 minutesmins
Course: Dinner, Main
Cuisine: Gluten Free, Indian
Keyword: gluten free curry, gluten free dinner ideas, green paneer curry, kale curry, kale paneer, palak paneer, vegetarian curry, vegetarian dinner
Fill a large saucepan with water about 3cm deep. Place a steaming insert/steamer basket inside the saucepan making sure it doesn’t touch the water. Place frozen kale on the steamer basket, cover and steam on high for approximately 8 minutes until kale is a shade darker and looks a bit wilted. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Place steamed kale, onion, garlic, ginger and chili in the jug of a blender along with 1 cup of water. Blend for a couple of minutes until silky smooth. Set aside.
Heat ghee in a sauté pan or small wok on medium. Add the cumin seeds and bay leaf. Fry for a few seconds until starting to sizzle and spurt. Slowly add the kale purée to the hot pan. Reduce heat to low and cook while stirring gently and occasionally for approximately 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, garam masala, chili powder and salt. Mix well and cook for another 10 minutes. If the sauce starts to feel a bit dry, add a quarter cup water to loosen it. Add cream and paneer. Mix well. Cook for a further 3-4 minutes until cream is well incorporated and warmed through. Remove from heat.
Garnish with herbs. Serve hot with a knob of butter along with steamed rice or naan.
Notes
For a golden paneer option pan fry paneer in a bit of ghee in a wide frying pan on medium heat, tossing constantly.At any time towards the end of the cooking process or after, if you feel the sauce is getting too thick or stodgy then loosen it with 1/4 cup water.