Palak Paneer (a.k.a. Saag Paneer) is no exception, and although the curry is largely comprised of puréed spinach and a mild cheese, it manages to eke out a monstrous amount of flavor from the rest of the ingredients. While the original isn’t fully plant-based due to the cheese and addition of cream at the end, it’s fairly easy to take this dish the last step from vegetarian to vegan by making a few minor changes. Paneer is a mild, fresh cheese that’s made by curdling milk with an acid and then pressing the curds. When it’s freshly made and minimally processed, the cheese has a tender melt-in-your-mouth texture not unlike tofu. While the texture may be close, the taste and flavor are worlds away. Paneer is rich, creamy and savory, with just a hint of tartness, while tofu tends to be watery, vegetal, bland and flat. By marinating the tofu for a few days in nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt, it’s possible to bridge this gap and create a Vegan Palak Paneer that’s just as flavorful as the original. The marinade helps the tofu shed its soy flavor in favor of something distinctly dairy, and dare I say, close to the Indian cheese. The second benefit is that the salt coaxes out water, giving the tofu a firmer texture that better resembles the freshly pressed curds of paneer. While it’s important to cook the vegan palak paneer long enough for the flavors to mingle and to take the green edge off the spinach, overcooking will turn the spinach an unappetizing shade of yellow green and give it a canned spinach smell that’s equally disagreeable. That’s why I like to start with fresh spinach, blanching it only long enough to wilt it, before throwing it in a blender to purée. After toasting the spices and caramelizing some aromatics, the spinach and vegan paneer go into the pot to get to know each other just long enough to break the ice. Finally, the pairing is unified with a little extra spice and coconut milk to round off the edges and bring everything together. The resulting vegan palak paneer is unexpectedly rich and intensely flavorful. The perfect curry for a round of naan or mound of pulao. Or serve it with rice and this Eggplant Curry and Gobi 65, for a vegan Indian feast.
📖 Recipe
