Once upon a time, before my hair turned gray, my teenage children “kidnapped” me for my birthday and drove me up to Chicago for a Cubs game, followed by dinner at a Colombian restaurant. Our overly aggressive server, who reeked of cannabis, recommended the “combination” platter. My daughter, who was a vegetarian, requested a meatless option. When her platter arrived with a piece of chicken, she flagged down the server and reiterated her vegetarian request. Without batting an eye, the server grabbed her fork, speared and removed the chicken, and proclaimed: “Now it’s vegetarian!”
When a restaurant or caterer designs a menu for a banquet or special event, it has become standard practice to include alternative dishes to accommodate guests’ dietary restrictions. Gone are the days when restaurants could get away with sending out a double portion of Sysco’s frozen 5-Way Mixed Vegetables to accommodate a vegetarian.
Thanksgiving has always been a holiday that is deeply rooted in family tradition, and “Nana’s spinach” was always on the table. My wife once wrote that it was her “favorite food; and the only thing I’ve ever eaten so much of that once, when I was a child, I got sick.” Nana’s spinach included bacon, so when my daughter adopted a vegetarian diet, my wife would prepare two versions.
I’ll be helping my daughter prepare her family’s holiday feast in Brooklyn this Thanksgiving. Among the 12 guests, there will be meat-eaters, vegetarians, gluten intolerants and a possible nut allergy. In a break from family tradition, “Nana’s spinach” will be cut from the menu and replaced by an equally comforting but vegetarian and gluten-free saag paneer.
Saag is a curry of stewed or puréed vegetable greens. Paneer is a simple fresh Indian cheese made by curdling milk with a food acid like lemon juice, vinegar or buttermilk. Any type of greens can be used in saag, but mustard greens are the most common in northern India. The saag paneer on most Indian restaurant menus is probably made with spinach instead of mustard greens so the dish is technically palak (or spinach) paneer.
Paneer is similar to ricotta but is much firmer. Both cheeses are prepared by heating milk and then stirring in an acid coagulant, which causes the milk to separate into curds and whey. The curds are then strained and rinsed to remove the whey. The softer ricotta is strained for a shorter time, which leaves more whey in the cheese. The firmer paneer results from straining the mixture much longer and compressing it with a weight to remove more whey. This forms a dense cake that can then be cut and cooked.
Paneer was difficult to source in the past unless you had an Indian grocery store nearby. Now paneer has entered the mainstream and is showing up in the dairy section of many well-stocked grocery stores, I’ve found it at Springfield’s Masala Mart (1650 Wabash Ave.) and Whole Foods in St. Louis. A company, Indian As Apple Pie, which has Midwest distribution, has recently launched its brand of paneer made by American dairy farmers.
Paneer is quite easy to make, and if you enjoy kitchen projects, why not make your own?
How to make paneer
Ingredients:
1 gallon of whole milk
1/2 cup of lemon juice or vinegar
Preparation:
Pour the milk into a large pot and slowly heat to 185-194 degrees, scraping the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula to prevent scorching. Once this temperature is reached, hold the milk at this temperature for about 20 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low and slowly add the lemon juice or vinegar, stirring gently. The milk will start to curdle and separate into curds and whey. Continue stirring gently until the curds have completely separated from the whey.
Line a colander with a double thickness of cheesecloth and place it over a sink or bowl. Pour the curdled milk into the colander and drain the whey.
Rinse the curds with cold water to remove any remaining acid.
Gather the cheesecloth around the curds and squeeze out any excess whey. Once the curds have drained for 30 minutes, form the cloth into a ball and tie it with kitchen string. Place a plate on top of the curds. Fill a large pot with a gallon of warm water and set it on the plate. Press the curds for one hour, or until the paneer is firm.
Once the paneer is pressed, remove the weight and unwrap the cheesecloth. Cut the paneer into cubes. Store the paneer in the refrigerator, submerged in water, for up to 3 days. Change the water daily.
Palak paneer
Palak paneer, (aka saag paneer), is a spinach and paneer curry.
Serves four
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ghee or avocado oil
8 ounces of paneer, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ cup yellow onion, finely chopped
2-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
3 garlic cloves, grated
¼ teaspoon garam masala
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cayenne
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 ripe Roma tomatoes puréed in a food processor
1 small serrano chili pepper, finely chopped
1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed and chopped (or substitute 12 ounces of frozen cut-leaf spinach)
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Fresh lemon juice
Preparation:
Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee or avocado oil over medium-high heat in a wide-bottomed pan. Add the paneer cubes and cook until golden on all sides. Remove with a spatula and transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
Add the remaining tablespoon of ghee or oil to the pan. Fry the cumin seeds for 1-2 minutes. Add the chopped onion with a pinch of salt and a splash of water and sauté until lightly browned. Add garlic and ginger, and cook for two minutes, until aromatic.
Add the garam masala, ground coriander, cayenne, one teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and cook briefly. Be careful not to burn the spices.
Add the tomato puree, serrano chili, ½ cup of water, and one more teaspoon of salt, and cook for about 2 minutes.
Increase the heat to high, add the spinach, and cook until wilted, about five minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool for about five minutes. Using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender, pulse the mixture until slightly chunky. Exercise caution if putting hot liquids in a blender.
Return the mixture to the pan, reduce the heat to medium, cover, and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a little water if the mixture starts sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add the cream and paneer cubes, and warm for about 2 minutes, stirring gently. Season to taste with salt and lemon juice.
Serve warm.
This article appears in Winter Guide 2024.
