Trying Palak Paneer in Monterey, California by Ruth Paget
On a recent visit to Ambrosia Bistro in downtown Monterey, California during the Pro-Am Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach, I tried the palak paneer, a spinach-tomato-onion curry that was mildly flavored for the first time.
According to www.epicurious.com, palak paneer is an Indian dish made with cubes of fresh cheese and stewed spinach and vegetables and spices that becomes a mild curry. Spinach is full of iron, which is good for blood health and helps give you rosy cheeks. The calcium in the cheese is good for bone strength. The protein in cheese helps with muscle development.
The epicurious.com recipe for palak paneer calls for turmeric (claimed to be a cancer fighter), garlic cloves, ginger, ghee (Indian clarified butter), pearl onions, coriander seeds, red chile powder, asafoetida powder (an Indian spice that tastes like mild onions), and chopped tomatoes (Vitamin C rich tomatoes are also anti-oxidants that remove free radicals that can cause cancer in the body.)
Those ingredients with chopped, stewed spinach, tomatoes, and onions create a mild curry that has further protein added to it when tomatoes combine with a grain product like bread or rice.
I dunked vegetable fritters called pakora in the palak paneer curry, tofu masala curry, and butter chicken curry that I chose from the lunch buffet. I used naan flat bread for the remaining curry.
As a final note, epicurious.com notes that if you cannot find paneer cheese, you can make this dish with firm tofu. The result would be vegan not vegetarian.
Ambrosia has a spacious downtown location with an outdoor garden in downtown Monterey by the Casa Munras Hotel and one on historic Cannery Row. Both offer a bit of peace during hectic planned schedules.
By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
