larry_stewart
Master Chef
Im filing this one under the " you learn something new every day".
One of my favorite Indian dishes is Spinach with paneer cheese.
I get it almost every time I go to an Indian restaurant ( the Indian restaurant I often go to has a buffet style lunch, so it is almost always offered).
I usually go up to the buffet line, I dont really read the names of the dishes, I just visually look and grab a little bit of everything ( that is vegetarian, they organize the buffet so one side is vegetarian, the other is meat based).
i always grab a scoop of the ' green stuff, sometimes labeled as saag paneer other times as palaak paneer. But, since they are never offered on the same day, I think nothing of it and just accept what it is called that day. Both sound right to me, and any time I see one, I almost forget that the other one exists until this past week.
I made a version at home, and i always go to this one Indian website for the video recipe ( because I make it infrequently enough, that I have to get a quick reminder of the ingredients).
So this time, saag paneer was in my head ( forgetting about palaak paneer), so I typed that into the search area in the site, and the video came up. When I started to watch the video, it seemed all wrong compared to what ive done in the past. the technique and even some of the ingredients. That's when the light bulb went on. I then typed palaak paneer and the video i was familiar with came up.
I did a little research, and it turns out that 'Palaak' is the India word for Spinach, and ' Saag ' is a more general term for greens. Therefore, Palaak Paneer is technically a version of Saag Paneer, but not the other way around. greens used can be any greens. Some mentioned have been spinach, mustard greens, kale, fenugreek leaves (other sites listed broccoli and even brussel sprouts)
Anyway, this was news to me, so I just figured I'd pass it on. I love when I learn new things !! And whats funny, is I've been calling it interchangeably for the last 30 years not realizing they both existed until i really thought about it.
One of my favorite Indian dishes is Spinach with paneer cheese.
I get it almost every time I go to an Indian restaurant ( the Indian restaurant I often go to has a buffet style lunch, so it is almost always offered).
I usually go up to the buffet line, I dont really read the names of the dishes, I just visually look and grab a little bit of everything ( that is vegetarian, they organize the buffet so one side is vegetarian, the other is meat based).
i always grab a scoop of the ' green stuff, sometimes labeled as saag paneer other times as palaak paneer. But, since they are never offered on the same day, I think nothing of it and just accept what it is called that day. Both sound right to me, and any time I see one, I almost forget that the other one exists until this past week.
I made a version at home, and i always go to this one Indian website for the video recipe ( because I make it infrequently enough, that I have to get a quick reminder of the ingredients).
So this time, saag paneer was in my head ( forgetting about palaak paneer), so I typed that into the search area in the site, and the video came up. When I started to watch the video, it seemed all wrong compared to what ive done in the past. the technique and even some of the ingredients. That's when the light bulb went on. I then typed palaak paneer and the video i was familiar with came up.
I did a little research, and it turns out that 'Palaak' is the India word for Spinach, and ' Saag ' is a more general term for greens. Therefore, Palaak Paneer is technically a version of Saag Paneer, but not the other way around. greens used can be any greens. Some mentioned have been spinach, mustard greens, kale, fenugreek leaves (other sites listed broccoli and even brussel sprouts)
Anyway, this was news to me, so I just figured I'd pass it on. I love when I learn new things !! And whats funny, is I've been calling it interchangeably for the last 30 years not realizing they both existed until i really thought about it.