A Fusion Twist to “Palak Paneer”
My grandma used to make whole wheat chapatis (tortillas) fresh for us at every meal. She even had a huge wheat grinding machine at home! So it was whole grain flour clean, pure and unadulterated.
Carbs are the staple in any diet. These days dietitians and nutritionists say ’No to Carbs’ and as a result gluten-free products have flooded the marketplace.
Unless one has an allergy, I’m not a huge believer in trends like gluten-free, paleo, keto, raw food and many many more.
Only if over the years your body has started to react or has become intolerant to certain foods you should be avoiding them. I have no fear in saying that these diets are like Fads; they are not long lasting and sustainable.
“Play with your food and the current trends, yet we all should cook and consume more of the real food we were used to eating as children.”
Play with your food and the current trends, yet we all should cook and consume more of the real food we were used to eating as children (unless you grew on eating processed food). Your mom and grandmas fed you real food that your body is used to digesting easily, as well as burning it down into energy soon. It's your #comfortfood ! You only need a lil’ creativity in developing a smart way to incorporate those meals into your busy modern lifestyles today..
This is where @wellnessbyroma pitches and instills in their clients the ability to cook their own #fusionrecipes because we customize each recipe to meet your specific needs and cultural backgrounds.
I asked my followers to name one dish from their childhood which their grandmas used to cook for them and they miss eating them today and I promised to create a fusion recipe for the winning dish.
From all the comments, I randomly picked the winning dish “Palak Paneer”! This is a traditional north Indian dish rich in iron and calcium. It is made by using spinach, cottage cheese, onions, tomatoes, ginger and garlic. It typically takes about an hour (a bit more) to cook this dish from scratch at home.
So here’s my unique fusion recipe for time-starved people who crave this dish during their busy work days. Prepared and cooked in about 15 mins Serves 2
Ingredients + Preparation
1 tsp Ginger finely diced
1 tsp Garlic finely diced
½ tsp Red or Green Chillies finely diced
One bag of baby spinach -pre washed (approx 6 oz/ 17o gms)
100-150 gms of firm cottage cheese or firm tofu cut into small cubes
1 tbsp Ghee(clarified butter)**
I tbsp Raisins ( I prefer soaked raisins; soak in water for at least 30 mins) *
2-3 Walnuts or Pecans
Salt to taste
Garnishing
1 tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice
½ tsp orange zest
1 Scallion thinly sliced (optional)
How to
On high flame in a flat skillet heat ghee (clarified butter). After the ghee is evenly heated add the finely diced garlic, ginger and chillies stir fry for about 30 seconds until slightly golden in color.
Now add the cottage cheese and stir fry them until they are well toasted (about 1-2 minutes).
Turn off the flame and add the baby spinach toss it well until the leaves have have been greased well. Make sure the leaves are not wilted.
Add salt to taste.
Transfer everything from the skillet into a serving bowl.
Garnish
Just before serving add the freshly squeezed orange juice, raisins, walnuts fresh orange zest and scallions. Enjoy this fusion Palak paneer stir fry. Add a side with a carb or protein of your choice.
Time Saving tips
Buy the pre washed packet of baby spinach.
Notes
*Any dry fruit is best consumed when it is soaked overnight, as it is much healthier and easy to digest.
** You can also use olive oil (or any other cooking oil) if you do not have access to ghee easily. I use ghee as it is the fat my body is used to burning quickly.
