Easy Instant Pot Palak Paneer

Palak paneer is a spinach based curry made with homemade Indian cottage cheese. The curry is spiced with basic pantry spices , cooked, and pureed into creamy rich sauce. Super delicious and healthy curry adds a beautiful flavor with the specially ground sauce added to it. Make this nutrition filled spinach curry with Instant Pot in less than 15 minutes ( Includes preparation plus cooking time). Not much preparation is required for this curry, and this recipe uses less ingredients . Perfect for busy weeknights , it is a great dish for gatherings, and pairs well with naan bread or rice. Recipe includes cooking the Palak Paneer in the instant pot, and stove top method , stepwise pictures , a video to watch , recipe to make homemade Naan and Paneer, detailed instructions and tips given.

As you all know, Spinach is one of the popular vegetable, the leaves are used for food and to make medicine. Spinach is a great staple to add to your diet. This leafy green vegetable grows all year round and is packed with vitamins and minerals. Nutrition per serving –  Having one cup of spinach has calories: 7, carbs: 1 gram , and 0 grams: Fat.

Though not the most exciting of foods, because of its health benefits of eating spinach are abundant, as a mom I’ve to find ways to make my kids eat it. And by making a tasty restaurant style curry like this, they will not fuzz to eat, I’m sure most of you will agree to me. Tastes so good with warm Naan Bread .

Spice level of this curry is mild to medium spicy. When you add heavy cream , cashew – poppy paste , it significantly reduces spiciness. If you prefer even less spicier , then cut back on the green chillies (if using thai chillies / or green chilles from Indian market) , I didn’t use any chilli powder in the recipe.  So the curry is perfect for kids.

How to prepare the Palak Curry without the Instant Pot?

You can use a heavy bottomed pot to make this spinach curry, follow this same recipe ingredients and measurement.

• Preparation – fresh spinach / baby spinach / frozen spinach , chop onions finely , whole green chilies (do not slit or chop) , ginger and garlic paste , fresh cream / heavy cream (leave it at room temperature for faster cooking), butter , garam masala powder, salt, cut paneer into cubes ( use fresh or frozen) and water. Grind in mixer to smooth paste – white poppy seeds , cashew nuts , cumin / jeera seeds and mentioned amount of water.
• Sauté – Place the pan on the stove and heat it on low – medium flame, add 1 teaspoon oil only, add green chillies and spinach leaves , sauté until the spinach leaves shrinks in size , approximately two minutes. Remove  the mixture into mixer.
• Puree it – Add 1 cup of water and puree the spinach mixture .
• Sauté – Switch on the stove again , use the same pan ( used for sautéing the spinach) and heat on medium flame , add butter , once it melts , add onions and salt, sauté until onions turns slightly brown ( approximately 2 minutes). Then add ginger and garlic paste and sauté until raw smells goes ( approximately 1 minutes , make sure to keep stirring, else ginger paste will get burnt in the bottom). Now add ground palak / spinach puree , ground cashew – poppy seeds mixture , garam masala powder , paneer ,and heavy cream , stir well. Bring it to  boil in medium flame ( stir in between) , continue to boil for two more minutes. Check for extra seasoning at this stage. Switch off the flame. Serve palak paneer with Naan bread or with rice.

Make the spice level of the curry to mild – medium or hot

This recipe use only green chillies for spiciness , no chili powder is added. It is mild to medium level spice. For TWO bunches of fresh spinach leaves , I used 10 green chillies ( I used is small varitey chilli from indian market , which is usually spicier, if you’re using other variety chillies, then adjust to your preferred spiciness or reduce the number of chillies for mildly spicy curry) .

You can also add red chilli powder / Kashmiri chilli powder ( which only gives bright red color , and not spicy) or Paprika. Add ONE to TWO teaspoon of chilli powder ( adjust to your spiciness , first add only one teaspoon , and boil the curry well, and add more at the end if required) and completely skip green chillies.

Fresh spinach or frozen spinach ?

In this recipe I used fresh baby spinach ( usually boxed/ packed and sold in costco / other groceries chains ,  you can also use other spinach varieties ( if you’ve got it from Indian market / farmers market , make sure to cut the leaves , soak in warm water , and rinse well several time to remove any impurities ). As always fresh vegetables is best to use and has more nutritional values and no preservatives too . I highly recommend using fresh spinach leaves.

But , you can use frozen spinach too if you don’t find fresh. Make sure to thaw the frozen spinach before using it , or dry  them slightly on a towel to remove excess water ( optional). It may take little more time to build pressure in the instant pot if using frozen spinach directly from the freezer.

How to make fresh paneer from scratch ?

Making homemade paneer is super easy , simple steps to follow , find below the detailed recipe with stepwise picture to make a perfect paneer, tips to freeze given.

• How To Make Easy Homemade Paneer

How to use frozen paneer in the curry?

I buy paneer from Indian market or from Costco , you can also buy from online , amazon sells them. If you’re buying block paneer , I cut them into required shapes and sizes , and freeze them in individual zip locks ( see the above homemade paneer post for tips and pictures).

When you start to prepare for the curry , remove them from freezer ( as a whole block or cut cubes ) remove the plastic cover / zip lock , place them on a bowl / plate and microwave for one to two minutes or more depending on the the quantity and size of the paneer( if microwaving a whole paneer block –  then make sure to turn paneer every now and then , to avoid paneer from getting crumble / or too soft ). Microwave just until the paneer is thawed ( still firm , but not hard or too soft ). Then add them to the curry AT THE END. 

Other ways to thaw the paneer – you can also thaw frozen paneer in the refrigerator. Remove from the freezer, and leave them inside the refrigerator overnight , then cut them into cubes and add them to the curry.

Optional – you can add few drops of oil in a non stick pan ( preferred) , and toss the thawed paneer to slightly golden brown in low – medium flame and then add them to the curry.

Serving Suggestions

Serve chicken curry with white rice, brown rice , Naan bread , flatbread / tortillas , roti (chappati) , any rice variety like Coconut milk rice ( basmati rice flavored with coconut milk).

Recipe for Naan Bread , with step by step pictures , two ways to make the naan and tips to make a perfect naan given , check it out,

• Best Naan Bread Recipe
• Best Homemade Flour Tortillas Recipe

Recipe For rice (easy one pot recipes) , with stepwise picture, check this out –

• Thengai Paal Sadam | Coconut Milk Rice
• Instant Pot Soya Keema Biryani
• Restaurant Style Chicken Biryani

Storing And Reheating Instructions

Refrigerate any leftover immediately in a clean dry container ( preferably glass container). Spinach curry stays good for 2 to 3 days in fridge. Make sure to place the container in the inner most portion of the refrigerator (away from the door) for longer shelf life. Reheating – (make sure to use a clean dry ladle / spoon to scoop the curry) place the bowl in the a microwave safe bowl, cover and reheat for 1 to 2 minutes or until warm ( or more ) depending on the quantity you’re heating ( make sure to add few tablespoons of water , mix well and then microwave if the consistency is too thick ). I’ve not freezed it , so I’m not sure how long it would stay good in the freezer.

This curry can be made ahead of time for a ‘Gathering ’. Cook the curry and cool down completely to room temperature. Transfer to party trays and cover the trays with foil – lid if you have one or use a clear wrap and cover the top fully without gap. Can also use foil sheet warps to cover over the clear warp just for an extra protection and leak proofing. For Reheating Party Trays, pre heat the oven and place the trays for 5 to 10 minutes or until the dish gets heated (take them in between and stir and place it back). Or use a chafing dish – burner to reheat ( recommended – this helps the food to keep warm for the entire party). Note – do not microwave foil trays.

Step by step pictures of how to make the palak paneer curry

Ingredients required – fresh spinach / baby spinach / frozen spinach , chop onions finely , whole green chilies (do not slit or chop) , ginger and garlic paste , fresh cream / heavy cream (leave it at room temperature for faster cooking), butter , garam masala powder, salt, cut paneer into cubes ( use fresh or frozen) and water.

Grind in mixer to smooth paste and keep it ready – white poppy seeds , cashew nuts , cumin / jeera seeds and water.

Sauté using the Instant Pot

I used Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8 Quart for cooking. Place the inner vessel into the Instant Pot. Press SAUTE mode on HIGH power. In CUSTOM settings, SET Timer for THREE minutes. Now Press START. Once the preheating is done ( you’ll get a beep sound), add butter, add green chillies, and sauté for 30 seconds. Add onions, required amount of salt for the dish, and sauté for ONE minute ( by adding salt at this stage – onions cook faster) , followed by ginger and garlic paste, sauté for 30 seconds ( make sure to keep stirring , else you’ll notice the paste getting burnt to the bottom). Press CANCEL (You do not need the sauté mode to be on after this) , add garam masala powder , spinach , mentioned amount of water and STIR WELL ( make sure there is no food sticking to the bottom, else you’ll might get burnt error).

Pressure cook

Close the LID of the Instant Pot . Press the PRESSURE COOK mode on HIGH power, and SET CUSTOM TIMER to “TWO” minutes. SEAL the Pressure Valve ( this model IP automatically seals the vent). Switch off the KEEP WARM MODE ( light should not be on in the keep warm mode). Now press START. After the pressure cooking is done. Press CANCEL. Then do QPR (quick pressure release) by moving quick release switch from SEAL TO VENT.

Sauté finally

After the steam is released, open the lid of the Instant Pot , Puree the mixture ( I used immersion blender to puree it , if you do not have it, then transfer mixture to mixer and grind it and pour it back to the Instant Pot ).

Add the ground mixture ( poppy seeds , cashew nuts & cumin seeds) , fresh cream and cubed paneer , stir well to blend with spinach mixture. Then press SAUTE mode on HIGH power. In CUSTOM settings, SET Timer for FOUR minutes. Now Press START, let the curry come to boil , and continue to boil for TWO more minutes , (check for extra extra seasoning at this stage). Press CANCEL ( you don’t have to wait for the pre heating to be done, when you press sauté mode, curry will start to boil if it is hot ( make sure fresh cream is at room temperature), continue to boil for two minutes and press cancel).

Remove the inner pot from the instant pot , Serve the palak paneer curry with rice or roti.