Palak Paneer (Spinach with cottage cheese)

I love paneer and usually enjoy any paneer sabzi. Paneer butter masala and Paneer tikka masala are two of my favorite! Replace paneer with chicken and you get two more of my fav dishes!! But for some reason, I never liked Palak Paneer. Any restaurant I went to, I would never order the Palak Paneer nor did I ever think of making it myself, until I came across this recipe at Indira's cooking blog.
The recipe in itself is so simple, easy to make and so delicious that it changed my opinion about Palak Paneer forever. Now I make it quite often and am so glad that I came across this wonderful recipe. Most of the times I follow Indira's recipe quite religiously, but I also make quick alterations when I am short of time.
In addition to sharing this recipe, I am also posting it as an entry to Nupur's Holiday Buffet. This is my first entry to any blogging event and am pretty excited!

Ingredients

Two cups of paneer - cubed
Two cups of chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)
One medium size tomato (or 2-3 tbsps of tomato paste)
One small onion - chopped
3-4 green chillies - slit (depending on your tolerance level)
A handful of almonds or cashews (optional)
One tsp of ginger - garlic paste
Half a tsp of turmeric powder
One tsp of cumin - coriander powder
Half a tsp of chilli powder (optional)
Oil for cooking
Salt as per taste

Method

First saute the spinach and the green chillies in one tsp of oil in a kadai (skillet). Saute until the spinach shrinks and then allow it to cool a bit. Blend the spinach-chillies along with the almonds/cashews into a paste in a blender.
There are a few ways to use the tomato in this dish. You can either microwave the tomato in water. Peel it's skin and mash the tomato into a pulp. This is mentioned in Indira's recipe. I have also tried blending chopped tomatoes along with the spinach.

In the same kadai, heat 2 tsps of oil and saute the chopped onions until translucent. Add the ginger - garlic paste, turmeric, cumin - coriander powder and saute for a few minutes. (If you are using tomato paste, you should add it now and let it cook for about 5 mins. Add just a few tsps of water if you think the paste is too dry.)
Now add the spinach puree, salt into the kadai. Cover and cook well for about 5 to 8 minutes. If you want you can add a bit of chilli powder now to increase the spice level. The last addition is the panner cubes. Simmer for a few minutes and let it blend well with the spinach and the masalas. Your delicious palak paneer is ready!! :)