Saag Paneer or Palak Paneer

Saag or Saak or Palak is spinach or any vegetable-leaf-based dish eaten in greater Indian sub-continent with rice or Roti (flat bread). Saag can be made from spinach or mustard leaves, or any green leaves with added spices and sometimes with other ingredients such as Paneer (cheese).

Paneer can be described as traditional cottage cheese. This is a fresh form of cheese common in South Asian cuisine. Unlike most cheeses in the world, the making of Paneer does not involve rennet, thus making it completely lacto-vegetarian. Paneer provides one source of protein for vegetarians in India.
Saag Paneer or Palak Paneer is therefore a dish that contains spinach and cheese.

Ingredients

2 pounds fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
1/4 cup ghee, recipe follows
1/2 pound cubed Paneer cheese
2 yellow onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder, recipe follows
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Salt

Preparation

The spinach is tossed in a large pot of water to a boiling point for 1 minute until the leaves are very tender. Then the spinach is dumped into a colander and pressed firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, and set aside.
The ghee is then heated in a deep skillet over medium-high flame. The cubed cheese are added and fried for a couple of minutes until they are light brown on all sides by gently turning to avoid breaking up the cubes. The cheese are then removed from the skillet and set aside.

The skillet is then returned to the heat and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger; cooked and stirred for about 5 minutes until soft. The mixture is sprinkled with the curry powder; continued to stir to marry the flavors for about 1 minute. The chopped spinach is then folded and everything is given a good toss. The heat is then shut-off and the buttermilk and yogurt are stirred into the spinach to incorporate. The mixture should be creamy and somewhat thick. The fried paneer cubes are gently folded, seasoned with salt to taste, and served with steamed rice or flat bread.