I've been working on the palak part of the palak paneer too, trying to perfect it. I almost have it. This is the onion, spice mix part. Cardamom, cumin, coriander, paprika, salt. The garam masala comes at the end.

This is the spinach.

Here's everything bubbling happily away on the stove. Neel's stirring tamarind paste. We'll work on perfecting that next. By this point we've added the cream to the spinach, and we both agreed that we got the spinach/cream/paneer ratio quite right with this batch, but that we needed more garam masala/paprika/salt. Live and learn.

And here's my family patiently awaiting dinner and not muttering things under their breath like, "Oh God, here she goes again. Come on, Mama." Oh, and one last thing about paneer. When I first tasted the paneer (made by me!), I had to admit I was a little disappointed. It was not quite as good as that which came from the Indian grocer. Alas. But, you know? Once in the palak, it tasted really good and authentic. Not superior, but definitely as good. I could see myself going either way. Sometimes I'll want to swing by the Indian grocery, and sometimes I'll want to curdle some milk. Who wouldn't want to curdle some milk?