This is basically a paneer curry. It's just that instead of pressing the curds into a solid block and then cutting it into cubes as you'd see for most paneer curries, you make little cheese dumplings (chenna) instead. Once the curds are drained, you mix in some flour and a tiny bit of water and shape them into little balls. These dumplings are then simmered in a savoury tomato-spinach sauce.

Chenna Saag

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Chenna

• 1L half-and-half (10% cream) or 2L whole (3.25%) milk
• 3-4 Tbsp. vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. rice flour

Sauce

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. ground Deggi chilies¹
• 1 tsp. Dhania-Jeera Masala
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 1 c. water

Directions

Chenna

1. Bring the cream/milk to a boil.
2. Immediately remove from heat and stir in vinegar 1 Tbsp. at a time. Keep adding vinegar until the curds have completely separated from the whey. The whey should be clear, not cloudy.
3. Line a colander with butter muslin or a triple layer of cheesecloth. Pour the curds and whey into the lined colander to drain the curds. Set aside to drain for an hour.
4. Dump the curds out of the cheesecloth and sprinkle with the rice flour.
5. Wet your hands and mix the curds to form a crumbly "dough".
6. Form the dough into walnut-sized balls and set aside.

Sauce

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-15 seconds.
3. Add onion, ginger paste, and garlic and stiry-fry for ~5 minutes.
4. Add tomatoes, salt, ground chilies, dhania-jeera masala, and turmeric and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and cool until fully thawed.
6. Add water.
7. Place chenna in the sauce.
8. Carefully spoon some sauce over the chenna.
9. Lower heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, basting the chenna without stirring, for 15-20 minutes.

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¹ If Deggi chilies aren't available, then a 1:1 ratio of ground cayenne and sweet paprika makes a reasonable substitute. ^Back