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Home ยป All Recipes ยป Main Vegetarian

Thermomix Palak Paneer - Vegetarian Curry

Published: Jan 13, 2017 ยท Modified: Dec 5, 2022 by Julie Carlyle ยท This post may contain affiliate links ยท 13 Comments

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Thermomix Palak Paneer curry in and Indian bowl served with naan bread.

Thermomix Palak Paneer, is a very popular vegetarian curry. The easiest way to make this delicious vegetarian curry is with your Thermomix. 

Thermomix Palak Paneer curry in and Indian bowl served with naan bread.

This is a super healthy vegetarian recipe that is truly authentic. Many of you may know that I visited India and stayed in family homes, attended cooking classes, and visited temples where they cooked and served free meals for thousands of poor people each day. The aim of this trip was to collect recipes for my first Thermomix Cookbook.

One of the classes I attended was called Gourmet Desire and was located in a family home in Delhi. Prior to the class, I emailed a menu of recipes that I wanted to learn how to make. One of the dishes on my wish list was Palak Paneer. Have you tried Palak Paneer before? It's a spinach curry served with cubes of fried paneer. Happily, when we arrived for the class the teacher was ready to show me the secrets to making a delicious Palak Paneer.

I had been intending on converting the authentic Indian Palak Paneer into a Thermomix Palak Paneer recipe with all the same ingredients, but a much simpler cooking technique.

BUT, the Thermomix Palak Paneer didn't make the recipe list. I hadn't perfected the recipe by the time it was ready to publish the book. Also, there were so many other delicious recipes already in the book, that deserved a place, I couldn't find one to remove! So, Palak Paneer didn't make it into the cookbook.

An Indian Thermokitchen Cookbook

An Indian ThermoKitchen Cookbook

This book was a product of my trip to India. I went in search of recipes for all my favourite dishes. You will notice that my travel is always been dictated by my belly! To get a taste of what is really served at mealtimes in India I stayed in all styles of accommodation. I even stayed in a homestay where I learned to cook with the mother of the house. The result of this trip was a collection of 28 recipes. The book is available as a hardcopy or eBook.

Learn More

When my Cookbook was first released I held some workshops demonstrating my favourite recipes. During one of these classes, I was asked if I had a recipe for Palak Paneer. I had to admit, I hadn't yet converted the recipe for use in the Thermomix so I got busy, and as a result, this is now one of the free recipes on my website.

How to make Thermomix Palak Paneer Vegan

Would you like to make this dish Vegan?

The recipe has three ingredients that require substitution;

  1. Paneer - Swap paneer for tofu, pan fry as per the first step
  2. Cream - Substitute for coconut cream, the flavour will change but it will still be delicious
  3. Ghee - Substitue for the oil of your choice, choose a very low flavoured oil
Vegetarian Indian Curry in a metal bowl, wooden table

Indian Curry Spices

Most of the spices in this recipe are fairly common. If any of the spices are unfamiliar to you take a look at this spices page. I have explained all the spices I use in my Indian Cookbook and for curries on this website. I have also provided links on where you can get the spices online if you can't find them in your area. Where there are substitute ingredients available I've provided product information.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I substitute fresh spinach for frozen spinach?

Yes, you can use fresh spinach.
1. Chopped the spinach up and place in a saucepan.
2. Boil the spinach for a minute or two until wilted.
3. Remove the spinach from the saucepan and refresh in cold water. This stops the spinach from cooking further and losing its vibrant green colour.
4. Drain the spinach but don't squeeze all the water out.

Are the baby spinach packs from the supermarket suitable?

Yes, you can, just follow the procedure above.

Where do I buy frozen fried paneer cubes?

These are usually available in the freezer section of an Indian or Asian grocery store.

What can I substitute for frozen fried paneer cubes?

Paneer is also sold in a block at the supermarket. Cut the block into cubes and gently fry each side.

Can I make my own paneer?

Yes, you can! Paneer is not difficult to make. The recipe is in my Indian Cookbook. An Indian ThermoKitchen.

What can I substitute if the paneer is completely unavailable?

You can swap the paneer for tofu. Purchase firm tofu and cut it into cubes. Fry the cubes in ghee or oil.



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Thermomix Palak Paneer curry in and Indian bowl served with naan bread.

Thermomix Palak Paneer - Vegetarian Curry

Julie Carlyle
A simple vegetarian curry which can be made in the Thermomix.
5 from 4 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 30 minutes mins
Total Time 35 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 5 people
Calories 407 kcal

Equipment

  • 1 Thermomix

Ingredients
 
 

  • 750 gm Frozen spinach defrost prior to cooking - warm in microwave
  • 400 gm frozen paneer cubes *see the FAQ section for information about this product and substitute products.
  • 10 g ghee or oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seed
  • 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • 10 gm cassia or cinnamon bark
  • 5 green cardamon
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 40 gm ghee or oil recipe for homemade ghee in my Indian Cookbook
  • 250 gm onion
  • 15 gm garlic
  • 10 gm ginger
  • 1 green chilli *optional
  • 1 teaspoon Kashmiri Chili Powder
  • 500 g liquid vegetable stock or 1 TBS vegetable stock paste and 500g water
  • ยฝ teaspoon salt or more to taste
  • ยฝ teaspoon jaggery sugar coconut blossom or rapadura
  • 100 g fresh cream
  • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1 TBS fenugreek leaves

Instructions
 

  • Place spinach in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave until defrosted and slightly warmed. Don't drain. reserve for later.
    750 gm Frozen spinach
  • In a frying pan, use low heat to gently fry the paneer cubes in ghee or oil until golden. Meanwhile, start the curry base.
    400 gm frozen paneer cubes, 10 g ghee
  • Add the cassia, cumin, bay leaf and cardamon to the TM bowl. Roast 4 min/Varoma/Speed 2 (MC OUT)
    1 teaspoon cumin seed, 10 gm cassia or cinnamon bark, 5 green cardamon, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
  • Mill the spices. 30 sec/Speed 9. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the onion, garlic, ginger and green chilli (if using) to the TM bowl. 
    250 gm onion, 15 gm garlic, 10 gm ginger, 1 green chilli
  • Chop 7 sec/speed 9. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the ghee to the TM. Cook 8 min/Varoma/Speed 2 (MC OUT).
    40 gm ghee or oil
  • Add the vegetable stock, Kashmiri chili, salt, and sugar. Blend 30 sec/Speed 9.
    1 teaspoon Kashmiri Chili Powder, 500 g liquid vegetable stock, ยฝ teaspoon salt, ยฝ teaspoon jaggery sugar
  • Cook 10min/Varoma/Speed 2.
  • Add the reserved spinach, cream, garam masala, and fenegreek leaves
    100 g fresh cream, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 TBS fenugreek leaves
  • Blend 40 seconds/Speed 9.
  • Cook 4min/100 degrees/Speed 3.
  • Distribute the fried paneer equally into 4 serving bowls. 
  • Pour the Palak curry sauce over the paneer and serve. 
  • Optionally garnish with extra cream.

Notes

This Spinach and Paneer Curry can be made using fresh spinach or even baby spinach. Please see the substitution information in the story for details on how to use fresh spinach in the curry.

Nutrition

Calories: 407kcalCarbohydrates: 19gProtein: 18gFat: 31gSaturated Fat: 18gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 81mgSodium: 810mgPotassium: 674mgFiber: 7gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 18222IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 624mgIron: 4mg
Keyword healthy, Indian Curry, Spinach, vegetable, Vegetarain
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
Palak Paneer recipe on a striped table cloth

I hope you have enjoyed this story. Feel free to leave a comment or start a discussion. If you have made a dish from this site I would love to know what you thought!

Leaving a comment and a star rating helps others decide if they should try my recipe. Plus if you hit the social media share buttons, your friends may find a delicious new recipe or Thermomix Tip too!

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Thank you for stopping by,

Happy Cooking

j xx

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Ritu says

    August 15, 2022 at 11:49 pm

    How do you add the recipe into the cookiedo? or do you have to manually run the machine?

    Reply
    • Julie Carlyle says

      August 16, 2022 at 6:33 am

      Good morning Ritu
      Thank you for your question. I know guided cooking with Cookidoo would make using my recipes and those of other independent recipes developers much easier. Unfortunately this isnโ€™t possible because once a recipe is added to Cookidoo, Thermomix then owns the rights to that recipe.
      All recipes on my website are copyright protected, meaning they canโ€™t be added to a recipe platform such as Cookidoo. When you add a recipe to Cookidoo you are stating that you developed, tested and photographed the recipe yourself, and as the owner of the asset โ€œrecipeโ€ you are transferring the rights to the recipe to Vorwerk world wide. They are then entitled to use the recipe on Books they sell or by reproducing my recipe and adding it to their subscription.
      I offer all the recipes on my website for free, no subscription required. This doesnโ€™t mean they are free for me to produce. This particular recipe required a trip to India and staying with an Indian family. Most of my recipes from that trip went into a cookbook but I shared some free recipes on my website.
      When I got home from a Indian I worked on all the recipes I had been shown and substituted ingredients that were unavailable here for local ingredients. I worked out how to make each recipe using the Thermomix. Sometimes it took me 6 or more goes to get a recipe correct. So whilst my recipes are free for you to use in my site, they are not available for a company like Thermomix to offer to all of their subscribers. By adding the recipe to your personal created recipes you are agreeing to that.
      The way I maintain the costs of running my website and providing free recipes is through the advertising on my site. Once my recipe is copied and reproduced elsewhere I have no way to support my websites and I will have to stop offering these recipes to the public. Iโ€™m sorry for such a long answer, Iโ€™m sure you, and everyone else in the community who asks this question doesnโ€™t realise that adding recipes from an independent recipe developer will put them out of business. At this stage Thermomix has a monopoly on Cookidoo recipes. They charge a subscription to users and if users upload independent developers recipes they also get the rights to those.
      Please donโ€™t add your favourite bloggers recipes to a Cookidoo or we wonโ€™t survive.
      I hope you have a lovely day. I know this answer is much more than you were expecting from, what seemed like a simple question.
      Please continue to enjoy recipes from all the lovely independent thermomix recipe developer. We each have our own style of cooking which means there is a much greater diversity of recipes available for the Thermomix when small business like mine are in the recipe mix.
      Happy cooking
      Julie

      Reply
      • Sharolyn Newington says

        August 03, 2023 at 5:10 pm

        Hi Julie, really appreciate this response and it makes so much sense. I have an older model thermomix (TM31) and donโ€™t have access to Cookido. I am grateful for people like you who share their recipes. My dinner is currently cooking away so I will be sure to check back when itโ€™s ready. Thanks

        Reply
        • Julie Carlyle says

          August 08, 2023 at 12:27 pm

          Hi Sharolyn
          The TM31 certainly are a work horse, I do believe they will go forever. Thank you for appreciating my recipes, it means a lot to me to know that people are enjoying them.
          Happy Cooking
          Julie

          Reply
  2. Kayt says

    October 02, 2020 at 7:16 pm

    I must admit I was having doubts because of the amount of cassia but I was sooooo wrong. This was absolutely delicious and Iโ€™ll definitely be making it again.

    Reply
  3. Derek says

    April 11, 2019 at 5:06 pm

    5 stars
    Best palak paneer recipe I've had.

    Reply
    • Julie Carlyle says

      April 12, 2019 at 5:27 pm

      Hi Derek, thank you so much for your kind words! Iโ€™m so pleased you enjoyed the recipe.
      Happy cooking
      J

      Reply
  4. Alexis says

    July 29, 2018 at 8:13 pm

    5 stars
    Thank you so much for this! Made it in the Bellini intelli and we devoured it. If I wanted to make it saucier, how would I go about it?

    Reply
  5. Helen Stewart says

    July 22, 2017 at 8:08 pm

    So very good! Quite a few stages but once you have done a few times it's easier. A beautiful dinner a real hit

    Reply
    • Julie Carlyle says

      July 23, 2017 at 10:18 am

      I'm so pleased you enjoyed it Helen ๐Ÿ™‚ Thanks for coming back and sharing xx

      Reply
  6. Teresa says

    March 08, 2017 at 1:55 pm

    5 stars
    Oh Wow, I love Palak Paneer, I 've played around with it a little in my thermie but haven't been able to get it right - thank you for sharing this ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Julie says

      March 08, 2017 at 1:57 pm

      My pleasure ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
  7. Kerry says

    January 26, 2017 at 3:43 pm

    5 stars
    Palak Paneer is my favourite Indian restaurant dish. I made your dish and it was perfect! Thank so much, I will never go out for Indian again!!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Julie, a recipe developer, published cookbook author, and registered nutritionist. My first love has always been cooking and food. ThermoKitchen is where my love of food combines with a "lazy streak" as I utilise my favourite appliance, the Thermomix! I discovered Thermomix in 2014 and loved it so much I became a consultant for the brand.

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