Palak Paneer with Tofu and Naan Bread

About the ingredients:

Tofu:

• In this recipe I love the neutral taste and simplicity of the tofu cubes as a contrast to the strongly spiced palak paneer. If you'd still like to give the tofu more "oomph", you can toss the cubes in cornstarch and garam masala and then fry them in coconut oil. You'll find the amounts in my recipe for Indian "eggplant tikka masala with crispy tofu".
• Many recipes ask you to press the tofu so it absorbs flavors better. In this recipe the tofu is simply boiled in salted water, so there's no need to press it.

Cashews:

• The blended cashews give the palak paneer a pleasant, filling texture - even without dairy. To get the nuts really smooth (almost like cashew milk), blend them with the vegetable broth first, before the rest of the ingredients go into the blender. Even with my high-speed blender, the cashews don't get fine enough if you blend them straight away with the spinach and the contents of the pan. So be sure to blend them with just the broth first. Alternatively, you can soak the cashews in water overnight or in hot water for a few hours (pour the soaking water away afterwards).

Bay leaf:

• You can take the bay leaf out before blending - but you don't have to. To be honest, I kept forgetting to remove it before blending and simply made a virtue of necessity😉.

Garam masala:

• Garam masala is an Indian spice blend with cardamom, cloves, pepper, cumin and cinnamon, among others. We actually find the cinnamon flavor far too dominant in most of the blends you can buy. That's just our own taste, of course, and I wouldn't dream of telling Indian cuisine what to do;) But if you feel the same way, here's my secret tip: a milder garam masala with less cinnamon. You can also make the spice blend yourself - it's much easier than it sounds, and you'll find plenty of instructions online.

Chili:

• You probably know that chilies can vary a lot in heat. So approach the heat level carefully. If the dish isn't spicy enough for you, you can finely blend some extra chili with a little of the purée and add it to the palak paneer.

#plasticfree

• As big a fan of fresh vegetables as I am, fresh spinach is often sold in large plastic bags. You'll find the plastic-free alternative in the freezer section, or as fresh bunches at some vegetable markets.
• Blending the palak paneer in a blender or with an immersion blender: plastic and high temperatures don't mix, because plastics can change above a certain material-specific temperature. Even well below that temperature, microplastics can form and get into your food (e.g. in an electric kettle or the dishwasher). To create as little microplastic as possible with this palak paneer, I recommend keeping the temperature as low as possible while blending.
  • Option 1: Blend the cashews with the vegetable broth first, then combine this "cold" mixture with the warm contents of the pan. See step 4.
  • Option 2: If you want to be really thorough, you can also let the cooked mixture from the pan cool down first, then blend it and reheat it afterwards. That takes more time and energy - but minimizes the amount of microplastics.
  • Option 3: Chop all the ingredients as finely as possible and/or grind them in a mortar. Then skip blending altogether and simply mash the contents of the pan with a potato masher.

meal prep

• Palak paneer is ideal for reheating the next day and freezes really well. I like to make it ahead for get-togethers with friends and family. Everyone loves it, and in our part of the world it's always something special. We usually serve it with Indian naan bread, which you can also prepare really well in advance (recipe coming soon!).

also worth knowing:

• Blender: For this dish I love my big Ninja blender. The 2-liter jug with a total of 3 double blades is ideal for blending large amounts finely. Any smaller blender or an immersion blender will do the job too, of course. But since I pay more and more attention to having as few plastic items as possible (and certainly not in contact with food), I'm always looking for alternatives. Most of the time you end up with the methods that were completely normal for our grandparents😄. Feel free to tell me in the comments what has worked well for you✒️.