After reading this title, you may wonder how on earth Palak Paneer - A dish that is so dependant on cream, ghee and cheese - Can be made vegan? I will gladly show you how.
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Since my transformation from vegetarian to vegan, which happened over a year ago. I have been painstakingly cooking my favourite Indian dishes at home, and converting them into completely 100% vegan dishes. This can sometimes be incredibly challenging, as Indian food depends a lot of animal products. Nevertheless, it is not impossible. This dish will be the first in a series of posts, where I share how exactly to vegan-ize one of the most vegan-unfriendly cuisines in the world.
Note - Palak Paneer and Methi Chaman are closely linked. If you want to make Methi Chaman, all you must do it add equal quantity methi (fenugreek leaves) and spinach.
Ingredients
*All these spice powders can be bought from Mustafa or any Indian grocer.*
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Since my transformation from vegetarian to vegan, which happened over a year ago. I have been painstakingly cooking my favourite Indian dishes at home, and converting them into completely 100% vegan dishes. This can sometimes be incredibly challenging, as Indian food depends a lot of animal products. Nevertheless, it is not impossible. This dish will be the first in a series of posts, where I share how exactly to vegan-ize one of the most vegan-unfriendly cuisines in the world.
Note - Palak Paneer and Methi Chaman are closely linked. If you want to make Methi Chaman, all you must do it add equal quantity methi (fenugreek leaves) and spinach.
Ingredients
· Mustard Oil – 3 TBS
· Palak (Indian spinach) – Bunch
· Fresh methi/fenugreek leaves (optional - If you are making methi chaman) – Bunch
· Fresh coriander – Handful
· Onion – 1 large
· Tomato – 3 medium
· Cashew nuts and Watermelon seeds (finely blended until ‘cream’ texture is achieved) – ½ cup cashew & ¼ cup watermelon seeds
· Ginger garlic paste – 1 TBS
· Turmeric – 1 TSP
· Cumin seeds – 1 TBS
· Coriander powder – 3 TBS
· Cumin powder - 2 ½ TBS
· Garam masala powder – 2 TBS
· Hing – Pinch
· Pepper powder – 1 TBS
· Firm tofu – 2 blocks
· Nutritional yeast – 4 TBS
· Salt – To taste
· Sugar – 1 TBS
*All these spice powders can be bought from Mustafa or any Indian grocer.*
Instructions
1. Slice the firm tofu into cubes and drain as much excess water from the blocks as you can. After which, place in a bowl and add nutritional yeast (this gives the cheese flavour) and salt together and let it sit for about one hour.
2. Soak cashew nuts and watermelon seeds for around one hour in warm water. After, blend them together until cream-like consistency is achieved. Set aside.
3. Roughly chop the spinach and then blanch for one minute in hot water, then place into the blender.
4. Blend the spinach roughly and set aside.
5. In a pan, add mustard oil. Once heated, add cumin seeds and cook until aroma comes out of the seeds.
6. Add finely diced onion, and cook until onions become golden.
7. Add ginger garlic paste, and cook until raw flavour goes away. Then add turmeric and hing – Very little hing.
8. Add finely diced tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are very soft.
9. Add the spinach mixture into the pan and cook for at least 15 minutes, constantly stirring during that time. After adding the mixture, sprinkle a little sugar (this helps retain the bright green colour).
10. Once this mixture is cooked, add cumin powder, garam masala powder, coriander powder, pepper powder and more salt.
11. Once mixture becomes slightly dried out, add the cashew nut and watermelon seeds mixture into the curry (do not add it all) and mix. This nut/seed paste replicates cream.
12. Cook for another 5 minutes, and then serve.
13. Sprinkle fresh coriander on top, and add more cashew nut and watermelon seed paste on top.
14. Done!
Bhojan ka anand!
Bhojan ka anand!