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A spiced Indian curry of cooked spinach and fried paneer cheese cubes finished with yoghurt.

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Why it works: Fenugreek and sugar work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and 61 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Prepare

  1. Put the well washed spinach leaves into a pan with the water that clings to them, add the fenugreek leaves (if used), cover and steam until spinach is soft.

  2. Drain well and chop finely.

  3. Cut the cheese into cubes and spread on absorbent paper for a few minutes so that surface moisture is absorbed.

Fry the cheese

  1. In a small deep frying pan heat enough oil in which to fry the cubes of cheese.

  2. Add a tablespoon of ghee to flavour the oil.

  3. When oil is very hot, fry a handful of cheese cubes at a time.

  4. Have ready the turmeric stirred into one cup of hot water and when the cheese is pale golden lift out on a slotted spoon and drop into the turmeric water.

  5. Repeat until all the cheese is fried, leave in the water for about five minutes then drain.

Make the spinach and finish

  1. Heat about two tablespoons of the oil in a saucepan and add the black cumin seeds, asafoetida, coriander, chilli powder and ginger.

  2. Stir and fry briefly, taking care not to burn the spices.

  3. Add the spinach and salt and stir for a minute or two, then add about half cup hot water and the sugar.

  4. Simmer for five minutes.

  5. Stir the yoghurt until it is smooth, add it to the spinach and stir well.

  6. Add cheese and simmer for ten minutes longer.

  7. Serve hot with rice or chapatis.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Fenugreek + sugartop 16% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together61 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  2. Turmeric + cumintop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,698 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Cumin + coriandertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,866 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Turmeric + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,775 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Coriander + gingertop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,504 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Spinach leaves
Forms the green base of the dish and gives it its body and earthy flavour.
Panir or ricotta
Firm cheese cubes that hold their shape and become golden when fried.
Yoghurt
Adds creaminess and a mild tang that softens the spiced spinach.
Ground coriander
Contributes warm, citrusy aroma to the spice base.
Ground turmeric
Gives the cheese and sauce a yellow colour and earthy flavour.

The step that matters

Frying the cheese cubes. Cubes must be dry and fried in very hot oil so they brown on the outside and keep their shape. Wet cheese spatters and steams, and cheese fried in oil that is not hot enough absorbs oil and turns soggy.

Flavor stand-ins for the fenugreek

The recipe marks fenugreek as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (spinach, ghee, turmeric, cumin, asafoetida, coriander, ginger):

  1. Cardamombetter flavor fit
  2. Fenugreekthe original
  3. Cinnamonabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Fennelabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against spinach, ghee, turmeric, cumin, asafoetida, coriander, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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