Palak Paneer with Mini Kulchas

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Palak paneer is such a common dish. And it’s such a simple dish. But sometimes it’s the simple dishes that aren’t so easy to perfect.

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A friend of mine Prerna had given me her recipe a long time ago and till date it has never failed me. I use the softest creamiest paneer from Sind Punjab (yes I am ashamed to say that I have never made my own paneer yet) and that elevates the dish to another level.

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I wanted to make something different with the palak paneer and remembered Reem’s cheesy kulchas. Didn’t want cheese to clash with the paneer so searched for the plain ones. Her post said recipe from comment no 322 and I died. Took me a while to scroll but finally found it. The pictorial recipe was super easy and decided to give it a shot.

Made mini kulchas that were really yum and dunked them in the delicious palak with a piece of paneer. Heaven !

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PALAK PANEER

Ingredients

3 bundles of spinach

400 gms of paneer (Sind Punjab variety)

1 chopped big onion

1 chopped big tomato

2 green chillies

1 tsp jeera/cumin

1.5 tsp ginger garlic paste

1 tbsp dhania/coriander powder

1/2 tsp garam masala powder

salt

 

  1. Wash spinach leaves well. Put it in the cooker with  green chilli. No water. One whistle and keep on slow for 5 mins. Grind when cool. (Dont use any water except little of the water left in the cooker, only if needed)
  2. In a deep dish/kadhai, heat oil. Add cumin/jeera.
  3. When it sizzles, add chopped onion. Sauté it till pink.
  4. add ginger garlic paste. Brown it well.
  5. Add chopped tomatoes, and cook it till its soft.
  6. Add dhania powder and very little salt. Cook it till it leaves oil.
  7. Add  Garam masala and mix well.
  8. Add the palak mixture and cook for few mins. Adjust seasoning. (Palak gets salty easily, so be judicious)
  9. Add the paneer and give it one final mix. Serve hot.

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KULCHAS (Recipe by Reem Khan – verbatim except for the yeast part as my yeast didn’t need proofing)

Ingredients

 

2 cups APF/maida
1 cup milk (warm, 1 minute on full power in the microwave)
1 tsp yeast (Prime)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 – 1 tsp salt
1 tbsp ghee or olive oil
25 ml water
FOR TOPPING

1 tbsp grated or coarsely ground garlic
Til
Kalonji
Chopped dhania
Finely sliced green chillies
Butter to brush just before serving

Add flour, yeast, sugar and salt to a bowl, and pour 1 cup warm milk on it.

Start mixing it all together. It will be a sticky dough by the time it all comes together. Keep kneading and folding it in for about 5 mins. It will start to form a semblance of a dough.

Take a little ghee/oil on your hand and start folding the dough from the edges to the centre. All the gooey dough will come off, keep moving the ball of dough on the edges also to take all the dough in. Pull the edge and bring it inward.

Now turn the ball over putting the pinched folds underneath. Transfer it to a greased bowl.

Grease the bowl and the dough well before putting it to rise. This is very important, or else when the dough rises, it will stick to the edges and working with it later will be very messy.

Take a clean tea towel. Sprinkle enough water on it to make it damp. Ball it up and put it in the microwave for 25 seconds.

Now cover the bowl of dough with this warm towel and keep it in a dark, warm place for an hour, or till it doubles up.

 

Preheat the oven to 190C for 10 minutes. Cover a baking tray with aluminium foil and grease it well.
To make the Kulchas, use a silicon mat and grease it well.
Lightly grease your hands and pinch out a golf ball size of the dough.
Put it on the greased sheet, and again start folding from the edges inwards. Pinch, pull and fold.
Turn it so that the smooth side comes up


Now start patting and pushing the dough outward, to stretch it, but make sure it has even thickness, Make the desired shape
Dab little water,  sprinkle some kalonji and til over the discs.
Now pat some ground/grated garlic.
Chopped dhania, and if you like, sliced chillies

Now press your fingers and make indentations

Lift the plastic from one end and gently take the Kulcha off. Place it on the greased foil

Place the tray on the middle rack in the oven and bake at 190° C till you get the desired colour. ( Appx about 6-7 minutes).

Once the top is done, remove the tray and transfer the Kulcha on to the wire rack, and bake it on the bottom rack for a minute
They should have a hollow sound when you knock the bottom

As soon as you take them out, brush with salted butter. Serve hot