A prospective client told me she could only do keto if she could still eat Indian food. I told her of course she could! However, I have very little experience with cooking or eating Indian food. I’ve cooked an occasional crockpot butter chicken, I’ve eaten at an Indian restaurant once, and in grad school (back in my Standard American Diet days) I used to buy some heat-and-eat Indian dishes. I’ve enjoyed it all. I thought this would be a good time to branch out and try a few new Indian dishes. If you check out my Keto Recipes to Try Pinterest board, you’ll see a few recipes for Indian food there. I decided to try my hand at Palak Paneer first.
I used this recipe for inspiration. I made a few changes to lower the carb count and to use ingredients that were already in my pantry or easily available at my small town grocery store.
For the homemade paneer, I found several recipes online. They were all very similar, and I combined bits and pieces from a few of them to come up with my method, which worked well. I had a little trouble with the nutrition info for the paneer. The recipes that did include nutrition info seemed to add the info for all the ingredients, and they listed a very high carb count due to the lactose in the whole milk. However, when making cheese, most of the carbs are strained out with the whey, making most cheese very low carb. To get around this issue, I found the nutrition facts for some store-bought paneer and used those. My paneer recipe yielded about 12 oz of finished paneer.
I hate it when nutrition labels list things like “<1g carbs”. I wish they would list the exact amount. When I calculated the nutrition info for the whole recipe, I errored on the side of caution and used a full 1 g carbs per ounce for the paneer.
A quick internet search for keto naan will yield many results. Most of the recipes use plenty of psyllium husk to get a more traditional-bread-like texture. Like many people, I have issues with constipation and increased carb cravings when I consume psyllium husk, especially in large amounts. I did find this recipe for paleo pita bread that uses a much smaller amount of psyllium husk. I think it would make good naan if cooked in a skillet instead of the oven, but I haven’t tried it. If using it for this recipe, I would suggest making a double batch and making it into 12 naan, with 2 naan per serving.
I decided that I wanted a higher protein naan, so I modified my favorite keto bread recipe to make my keto naan. While the texture and flavor is different than traditional naan, these are mighty tasty and they work wonderfully to scoop up every bit of spinach curry goodness.
Palak Paneer
Ingredients
Paneer
- 8 cups whole milk (not ultra-pasteurized)
- 2-4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/4 tsp salt
Keto Naan
- 6 large eggs , separated
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/3 cup unflavored egg white protein powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 2 tbsp ghee (or other fat of choice)
Spinach Curry
- 3 tbsp ghee (or other fat of choice)
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 6 cloves garlic , minced
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp cardamom
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek
- 1 tbsp celery leaves (optional)
- 2 roma tomatoes , chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 bay leaf
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger , grated
- 2 oz macadamia nuts
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
Instructions
Paneer
- Line a strainer with cheesecloth or muslin and set it over a large bowl.
- In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a low boil over medium heat. Stir frequently to keep it from scorching on the bottom of the pan.
- Reduce heat to low. Gently stir in 2 tbsp of lemon juice. Continue to stir gently until the milk curdles and the curds are completely separated from the whey, which looks yellow and watery. If this does not happen within 2 mintues, add more lemon juice, 1 tbsp at a time, until it does. As soon as they have separated, remove the pan from the heat.
- Gently pour the contents of the saucepan through the cheesecloth-lined strainer. Gather the cheesecloth in one hand, lift it out of the strainer, and gently squeeze the bundle from the bottom to remove as much whey as possible. Sprinkle the cheese curds with the salt, and stir gently.
- Transfer the cheesecloth-wrapped curds to a large dinner plate. Form them into a square. Place another dinner plate on top of the curds and weigh it down with something heavy. Set aside while you make the naan and the spinach curry, or for one hour. The paneer can be refrigerated for up to 3 days if you are not using it immediately.
Keto Naan
- Beat the egg whites with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and keep mixing on high until they form very stiff peaks. When the whites are nearly ready, begin heating 1/2 tbsp ghee in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.
- Add the egg white protein powder and onion powder and mix until combined.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the egg yolks until the mixture is a uniform color with no streaks of white or yellow.
- Using about 1/4 of the batter, create 3 circular naan in the hot skillet. Cook until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Repeat this step, adding an additional 1/2 tbsp. ghee for each batch, until you have 12 naan altogether. If not using immediately, the naan can be refrigerated for up to a week.
Spinach Curry
- Heat the ghee in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened.
- Add the garlic and stir constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Reduce heat to medium-low. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, garam masala, red pepper flakes, fenugreek, celery leaves and bay leaf. Stir constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in the tomatoes and salt. Cover and cook until the tomatoes are soft, about 8-10 minutes. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
- Place the tomato mixture, spinach, ginger, macadamia nuts, and water into a blender. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the spinach mixture back into the skillet and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 8-10 minutes, or until cooked through. The mixture will change from bright green to slightly brownish green and will no longer taste bitter. Taste, and add additional salt if needed. While the curry is simmering, cut the paneer into cubes.
- Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the heavy whipping cream. Gently stir in the paneer and cover for a few minutes until the paneer is warmed. Serve with keto naan, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info for the paneer only (6 servings per recipe): 180kcal, 2g carbs, 12g protein, 14g fat, 0g fiber
Nutrition info for the naan only (6 servings per recipe): 140 kcal, 1.5 g carbs, 11g protein, 10g fat, 0.4 g fiber
Nutrition info for the spinach curry only (6 servings per recipe): 189 kcal, 6.5g carbs, 2g protein, 17g fat, 2.1 g fiber