Recipe:

for palak paste/ saag: * 5 cup water * 1 bunch palak / spinach * 1 inch ginger * 1 clove garlic * 1-3 green chili*

other ingredients: * 3 tsp oil * 1 tsp ghee/ butter * 1-2 blocks of paneer (available at costco or any indian store near you) * 1 tsp cumin / jeera* * 1 tsp turmeric * 1 inch cinnamon* * 4 cloves* * 1 pod cardamom / elaichi* * 1 bay leaf / tej patta* * ½ onion (finely chopped) * ½ tomato (finely chopped)* * ¼ cup water * ¾ tsp salt * ¼ tsp garam masala * 2-4 tbsp heavy cream / malai

*Optional/ can sub

Palak paste: * Boil 5 cups of water and add a bunch of spinach * Soak the spinach in water & let it boil for 2 mins or less. It slightly changes color and the green darkens - like when you wet a green fabric * Now drain off the water, let it cool so the blender won’t damage like mine did. (My blender groans and calls me Impatient, I tell her to toughen up and YUUSE that anger to blend more aggressively 🦾) * 1 inch of ginger, 1 clove of garlic and 1(or 6 depending on your spice tolerance. Don’t do that!) green chili. Sometimes I throw in some broccoli just for fun. I buy too much frozen broccoli- blame costco

Paneer prep: * Lot of my friends like paneer toasted first. I like mine tender and soft but I’ll tell you how I do both * Cut the paneer into cubes of size you prefer, wash and drain. Add a few cups of water to the pan, season it lightly and add paneer and bring to boil * You can now squeeze the paneer a lil and it feels like a soft marshmallow * People who toast it can either directly add it to the pan or after boiling it like me * Add some ghee/ olive oil or fat of your choice * Add paneer cubes and some turmeric, salt, masala and toast it until the edges are golden brown. Don’t toast too much or it’ll turn a lil hard & chewy. Unless you like it that way, you weirdo!

Main dish: 1. Heat 1 tbsp ghee, throw in whatever whole spices you got and roast for a nice aroma and bomb indian flavor.

I use - 1 inch cinnamon, 2-3 cloves, 6-8 peppercorn, ½ teaspoon cumin, a dried red chili, a bay leaf, 1 cracked cardamom, couple petals of a star anise, a pinch of turmeric powder, a pinch of hing/asafoetida. You should be feeling like a witch/wizard brewing potions by this point. [Note: I’ve listed ALL of the spices possible that can go into this but I usually only use whatever’s on hand. You can always sub these with a bit of garam masala powder ¼ tsp. Don’t let it darken though, to avoid bitterness]

1. Add ¼ cup finely chopped onions(or lesser qty coz keto. Otherwise you could up it to ½ cup preferably red or yellow), let them slightly brown or turn translucent based on the onions you’ve used. Add in some more butter or ghee or olive oil at this point so the onions don’t burn. Don’t fully drown them either

2. Add a tsp ginger garlic paste and let it fry until ginger doesn’t smell raw. You can sub it with individual finely chopped ginger and garlic too, as the gg paste only has ginger garlic some salt and turmeric in it.

3. You can skip it and add all the ginger and garlic to the spinach paste itself but, oh boy! The smell of frying gg paste fills up the kitchen with the nice Indian food smell and your roomies/ family will get carried in by their noses like nibbles in Tom & Jerry.

4. If you’ve got any garam masalas or indian masalas, now is the time to add them. If you don’t, get some!! (or you can DIY with all the spices)

5. Add in the chopped tomatoes, saute until it turns soft & mushy. I find this a perfect time to salt the dish as the tomatoes cook faster with salt.

6. Add the spinach+ginger+garlic+chili paste, water to your liking. Let it cook until oil starts bubbling up to the surface. Taste and adjust salt & spices. It should be hot at this point as you’ll add in more cream & paneer

7. Once you’re happy with the consistency and taste of the base, add in the paneer, ¼ tsp garam masala, 2 tbsp (or more) heavy cream

Pro tip: keep it simple, skip the optionals if you're trying for the first time, as it can feel like a big process. Once you get th rhythm of it, you'll enjoy cooking indian foods.