Palak Paneer Pulao is a delicious pulao made with combination of spinach and cottage cheese. Both palak and paneer are healthy , pairing it together yields a super delicious and nutritious dish. Trying out different recipes with a healthy twist is what I often do, hence Palak Paneer Pulao made an appearance on my dining table.
Palak/Spinach is very nutritious ,its really necessary to add any kind of green leafy vegetable in our diet regularly as its rich in iron,folic acid and calcium.Its a known fact that people with iron deficiency are recommended to eat green leafy vegetables regularly. It becomes utmost important to include palak in our diet regularly ,so eating palak in the same form may bore anyone, adding diversity to your dish makes it more interesting and palatable. Experiment different dishes from greens and feed your family.
Different Palak Recipes, I often do at home are Palak Paneer, Palak Paneer Bhurji , Aloo Palak , Palak Dal , Spinach Mushroom Soya Cutlets , and our Karnataka special Masida Soppu Saaru .Palak Paneer Pulao is a new addition 😉
Other Pulao and Biryani recipes on blog are Vegetable Pulao ,Tomato Bath , Avarekalu /Surti Papdi Pulao , Ambur Chicken Biryani and Chicken Done Biryani.
RECIPE CARD FOR PALAK PANEER PULAO | SPINACH COTTAGE CHEESE PULAO
Palak Paneer Pulao
Ingredients
Measurement Cup Size : 1 Cup = 250 ml
- 2 Cups Basmathi Rice
- 250 grams Palak /Spinach
- 3 Green chillies
- 200 grams Paneer /Cottage Cheese
- ½ Cup Pudina /Mint leaves
- 3 Onions Medium size
- 1 Tomato large size
- 1 tablespoon Garlic Paste
- 1 Tbsp Ginger Paste
- 1 teaspoon Red Chilly Powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ Tsp Fennel Powder / Saunf Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 3 tablespoon Oil
- 2 Tbsp Ghee
- 10 Cashews - Optional
- 1 Tbsp Raisines - Optional
- 3 cups Water
- 2 tablespoon Coriander leaves chopped
- ½ tablespoon Lime Juice
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt or as required
Whole Spices
- 2 Bay leaves
- 4 Green Cardamom
- 1 Black Cardamom
- 2 " inch Cinnamon Sticks
- 4 Cloves
- 2 Strands Mace
- ½ teaspoon Stone Flower/ Dagad Phool
- ½ teaspoon Shahi Jeera
- 2 Marathi Moggu - optional
Instructions
- Soak rice for 15 minutes ,drain water and keep it aside.
- Blanch Spinach in hot water ,add salt,drain water and keep it aside to cool.
- Take a mixer ,add spinach , green chillies and blend well to get puree.Measure the puree in cup and keep it aside.
- Heat Oil and ghee in a thick bottom pan ,add ¼ cup sliced onions ,fry well to brown ,add raisins and cashews fry till golden colour.
- Remove fried onions, raisins and cashews with the help of slotted spoon and reserve it for garnishing.
- In the same pan,add all the whole spices,fry well till spices leaves flavours to oil.
- Add sliced onions ,ginger garlic paste and fry well,till the raw smell goes off.
- Now add paneer cubes, and fry well until slight golden in colour.
- Add chopped tomatoes and fry well.
- Add all the dry spice powders and fry well along with tomatoes until well blend
- Add the prepared palak puree and mix well.
- Add drained rice ,mix well with puree and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes
- Now add 3 cups of hot water,salt and continue to cook till done,it may take around 12-15 minutes .
- Once done ,add chopped coriander leaves ,lemon juice and mix well.
- Garnish with fried onions ,raisins ,cashews and serve hot with Aloo Raita.
Notes
- Measure the quantity of spinach puree using measuring cup ,so that you can adjust water content accordingly to cook rice. My spinach puree measured 1 Cup so i added only 3 cups of water for rice to get cooked.
- Add Hot water for cooking rice.
Step By Step Directions on making of Palak Paneer Pulao :
Soak rice for 15 minutes ,drain water and keep it aside.
Blanch Spinach in hot water and salt,drain water. Add green chilies to spinach and puree it in a mixer.
Heat oil and ghee in a thick bottom pan or a pot. Now add in all the whole spices,cashews and raisins.
Add shredded onions, pudeena / mint leaves and fry well till onions are translucent. Now add giner garlic paste fry well.
For this add paneer cubes and saute for a minute. Add tomatoes and fry well till raw smell goes off.
Mix in red chilli powder, coriander powder and saunf/fennel powder and fry well. Add spinach puree ** (See Note) and saute for 2-3 minutes.
Now add rice,mix well and fry on medium to high heat for 3-4 minutes.
Add hot water ,salt ,close the lid and cook till done.
Finally add lemon juice and coriander leaves ,serve hot with raita.
Featured Image is updated on 15 /08/2018
Gopi
Thanks for recipe. I will try this
Ambika
Tried it today! Came out really well. Thanks for this! Anotherway to include spinach in diet
Muktha
Thanks Ambika , Super 🙂