Paalak Paneer (Spinach Curry with Indian Cheese )

It was always palak paneer for her. Not the shiny, show-stopping butter chicken everyone raved about. Nope. While the world ordered their naans with extra makhan and murg, she’d be the lone soul quietly, determinedly, spooning out every green-hued, spinachy bite of palak paneer onto her plate.

It started with a childhood memory—a local restaurant in India with wobbly fans and steel tumblers, where the palak paneer would arrive steaming hot in a copper-bottomed bowl. The paneer, soft and squishy like a cloud, would be dunked in that earthy, spiced green gravy, and she’d tear her roti with childlike glee, dipping and scooping like it was treasure. 

Then life happened. New zip codes. New countries. The first time she ordered palak paneer in the US, it came with a side of confusion. Too creamy, not spicy enough, the paneer… suspiciously tofu-like. It tasted like someone had googled “Indian spinach dish” and tried their best.

So, she did what anyone fiercely loyal to their palate would do—she rolled up her sleeves, chopped her own spinach, softened her own paneer, and chased that old taste through trial and error. Over the years, she didn’t just learn the recipe—she began to own it. And somewhere in the middle of that mustard-seed tadka and kasuri methi sprinkle, her version of palak paneer was born.

It wasn’t the one from the restaurant in India. But it had something better: her own hands, her own spice-splashed apron, and the joy of feeding those she loved. She’d laugh, “Mere haath ka khana best hai, okay?” and everyone who tasted it would agree, mouths too full to argue.

Still, hope remains. That one day, under the Indian sun, with the rickshaw horns in the background and mango pickle on the side, she'll sit down and say: “Ah, yes. This is the palak paneer I was chasing.”
Until then? She has her kitchen. And that’s a delicious place to start. 💚