palak corn recipe with step by step photos – spinach and sweet corn is one of my favorite combination. the sweetness of the corn goes very well with the slight bland taste of spinach or palak.
i always end up adding these two in pasta, rice and in veggie bakes. this palak corn curry is a variation of the palak paneer, but more creamy as i have added ground melon seeds and cashews in the curry. there is also low fat cream in the recipe. you can skip the cream if you prefer.
the end result is a lightly spiced, smooth, creamy and nutritious curry. the recipe can also be made for kids who are usually not fond of spinach. instead of sweet corn, regular corn or even fresh green peas can be added.
this palak corn curry goes very well with naan, rotis or jeera rice.
few more tasty recipes for you!
palak corn
INGREDIENTS FOR palak corn
main ingredients for palak corn
- 1 bunch spinach (palak) - yields approx 2 to 2.5 cups palak puree
- 4-5 cups water - for boiling the water and blanching the spinach
- 2-3 cups ice cold water or chilled water - for adding the blanched spinach leaves
- 2 cups boiled corn kernels (sweet corn) OR green peas (matar)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 pinch turmeric powder (haldi)
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder (lal mirch powder)
- 1 pinch asafoetida (hing)
- ¼ or ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ½ teaspoon crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves)
- ¼ cup cream (20% to 25% low fat cream) - whisked till smooth - i used amul cream,
- 1 cup water
- 2 to 3 tablespoon oil or butter
for masala paste
- 1 medium sized onion - roughly chopped
- 1 medium sized tomato - roughly chopped
- 1 inch ginger (adrak) - roughly chopped
- 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves (lahsun) - chopped
- 1 or 2 green chilies (hari mirch) - chopped
- 2 tablespoon chopped or broken cashews (kaju)
- ½ tablespoon magaz or melon seeds. you can also use watermelon seeds.
for garnish
- ½ inch ginger - julienned
HOW TO MAKE palak corn
preparing masala paste for corn palak
- in a small grinder or blender, add all the ingredients for the masala paste.
- grind or blend to a smooth paste. add very little water if required while grinding.
- keep this masala paste aside.
blanching and making spinach puree
- rinse the spinach very well in water. boil water with some salt. let the water comes to a boil. then switch off the flame. immediately add the spinach leaves to this hot water.
- and let the spinach leaves be immersed in the water for 2 to 3 minutes.
- drain and quickly pour ice water over the spinach or immerse the spinach in ice cold or cold water. keep for 2 to 3 minutes.
- in a blender, make a semi-fine or smooth spinach puree adding very little water. keep aside.
making palak corn
- first steam or boil the corn kernels and keep aside.
- heat oil or butter in a thick bottomed pan. fry the cumin first till they become aromatic and are browned.
- now add the ground masala paste and mix very well.
- then add the turmeric powder, red chili powder, asafoetida and garam masala powder.
- keep on stirring and sautéing the masala, till the oil starts to leave the sides of the paste.
- when you see that the oil has started leaving the sides of the masala paste and its color has changed, add the spinach puree. mix very well.
- then pour water and season with salt. simmer the whole curry for 6 to 7 minutes on a low flame. later add the boiled corn kernels and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more.
- whip or beat cream till smooth
- now add cream and kasuri methi. stir and cook further for ½ to 1 minute.
- garnish with ginger julienne and serve corn palak hot with naan, rotis or jeera rice.
how to make palak corn recipe
preparing masala paste
1. measure and keep all the ingredients ready for the masala paste.
2. in a small grinder or blender, add 2 tablespoons chopped or broken cashews, 1 or 2 chopped green chilies, 1 medium sized onion which is roughly chopped, 1 medium sized tomato which is roughly chopped, 1 inch ginger which is roughly chopped, 3 to 4 small to medium garlic cloves (chopped) and ½ tablespoon magaz (melon seeds).
3. grind or blend to a smooth paste. add very little water if required while grinding.
4. keep this masala paste aside.
making palak puree for corn palak
5. rinse 1 bunch of spinach leaves (palak) very well in water.
6. you can also rinse and drain the spinach in a colander.
7. boil 4 to 5 cups of boiled water with some salt.
8. let the water come to a boil and then switch off the flame.
9. immediately add the spinach leaves to this hot water.
10. let the spinach leaves be immersed in the water for 2 to 3 minutes.
11. separately keep ice cold water ready. i added 10 to 12 ice cubes in 2 cups of water. alternatively you can use chilled water as well.
12. after 2 to 3 minutes with the help of tongs, remove the spinach and place them in the ice water bowl.
13. keep the spinach immersed in ice cold water for 2 to 3 minutes.
14. in a blender add the spinach.
15. blend to a semi-fine or smooth spinach puree adding very little water. you should get approximately 2 to 2.5 cups of spinach (palak) puree. keep the spinach puree aside.
cooking sweet corn
16. first steam or boil 2 cups corn kernels. i have pressure cooked the corn kernels. add enough water just covering the corn kernels while pressure cooking them. you can also steam them in a pressure cooker. alternatively you can steam or boil 2 medium corn cobs for 4 to 5 whistles. let them cool and then remove the corn kernels with a knife.
17. drain and then keep the boiled corn kernels aside.
18. now keep all the ingredients ready for the palak corn curry.
making masala for palak corn curry
19. heat 2 to 3 tablespoons oil or butter in a thick bottomed pan. add 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera).
21. fry the cumin seeds, till they become aromatic and are browned.
22. now add the ground masala paste.
23. mix very well.
24. then add 1 pinch turmeric powder, ¼ teaspoon red chili powder, 1 pinch asafoetida and ¼ or ½ teaspoon garam masala powder.
25. stir and mix the spices well. saute the masala paste, stirring often.
26. keep on stirring the masala, till the oil starts to leave the sides of the masala paste.
27. stir often and saute till you see oil leaving the sides of masala paste.
making palak corn curry
28. then add the spinach puree.
29. stir and mix very well.
30. pour 1 cup of water.
31. next add salt as required. mix well.
32. simmer the palak corn curry for 6 to 7 minutes on a low flame.
33. after 6 to 7 minutes, add the boiled corn kernels.
34. mix well.
35. simmer for 1 to 2 minutes more.
36. whip or beat ¼ cup cream till smooth.
37. now add the beaten cream and ½ teaspoon crushed kasuri methi (dry fenugreek leaves).
38. stir and cook further for ½ to 1 minute.
39. add ginger julienne (from ½ inch ginger).
40. serve the palak corn hot with naan, rotis or jeera rice. for more corn recipes, you can check this collection of 23 corn recipes.
Another gem from Dassana’s treasure! Very simple too. skipped the nuts and cream..still turned out very well.
thank you adi. glad to know. cream can be skipped easily, but thanks for sharing that nuts can be skipped too. happy cooking.
Hello I love all of your recipes and because of them I never run out of things to make. I just made this one today but without the nuts and cream it was still good
thanks tulsi for sharing this feedback. glad. yes nuts and cream can be skipped.
I made this a couple of days back and it turned out to be amazing.. I sauted Corn on olive oil before adding it to the palak gravy and it gave a nice crunchy taste to the dish.
Thank you for this amazing recipe 🙂
Welcome Supriya. Glad to know the way you made this palak corn recipe.
I did not used the melon seeds and still the corn palak came out very delicious!!!
thanks anubha. good to know this.
Hi the reciprocate great.but please don’t off the pictures like in this Palak corn receive. Visuals are more helpfully.
garima, a few recipes do not have pics. slowly i am updating these recipes with pics or videos.
I tried this recipe n it came out very well. My husband who is not a fan of spinach loved this dish. It was so easy to make.
I’m planning to prepare this dish for serving 10 people. Is this dish can b doubled or tripled? Can I prepare masala paste n Palak puree one day in advance?
Welcome Bhawana. Nice to know this. Yes you can double or triple this recipe. Yes you can prepare them in advance.
Beautiful curry! I substituted amchur for watermelon seeds and coconut cream for cream (used what I had)… It was wonderful!
thanks lee for giving positive feedback and for sharing your variation.
This was awesome. i couldn’t believe that i can cook so tasty palak that my 8 yr daughter also praised it and loved the recipe.. thanks a ton
thats nice to know. glad that your daughter liked it.
I have made this recipe number of times. My husband and i both love it like anything. Seriously, it’s amazing..simply loved it..!!
thanks renu for sharing positive feedback. glad to know this.
Made this just now for lunch! Didn’t have melon seeds or cream…but still it tasted delicious. Eating it now with peas pulao (your recipe). Thanks to you, I am becoming a famous cook in my family! 😀
welcome sneha. nice to know this. thanks for sharing positive feedback. happy cooking.
Dassana over the last month I have become a huge fan of you and your recipes. Including this one, they have all turned out extremely tasty. Thank you so much. One general question I have is which variety of tomatoes do you use? In Bangalore we get the sour type – they are a little flat and are called ‘nati’ here, and the ones which are typically used for salads as they are not very sour?
welcome preeti. thanks for sharing positive review on recipes. i don’t use round tomatoes and use the slightly long ones. they are not sour.
Hey I tried palak corn recipe..I took less palak puree..really awesome taste n rich ..
Thank you..I uploaded on my page Rajeshwari’s Delight… Please check thank you
thanks rajeshwari for the feedback. i will check the post in my free time.
What can I use as a substitute for the dairy cream? I’m vegan but I’d really like to make this.
either you skip the cream or add coconut cream. just add 2 tbsp of coconut cream. whisk the coconut cream and then add it right at the end. stir and switch off the flame. you will get coconut taste and flavor this way, but would be still good.
It turned out to be sooooo good using the coconut cream.
I altered the recipe a little, if anyone would like to try. Along with the cumin seeds I fried some black mustard seeds and a few curry leaves. When I simmered the curry I added one whole black dried Persian lime, which gave the sauce a beautiful deep, smokey-sour taste. I also added carrot cubes to the green peas, and nice cubes of fried tofu.
thanks noa for sharing your variation. i am sure it will help other readers who wants to try our new flavors.
this recipe sounds tasty.. though the addition of cashew and charmagaz paste might dull out the colour of the gravy.. to keep d bright green colour i replaced the masala paste with a simple tadka with cumin whole, chopped onion, chopped garlic and choppd green chilli.. and finished d gravy with gud amt of cheese..!
the cashew and melon seeds give a good amount of creaminess and sweetness in the gravy. the tadka you added is very simple yet looks flavorful. and yes cheese does take palak corn combo to a different level.
I hav tried palak paneer, corn palak and rasam. It turned out to be awesome. My hubby relished it. Will try more recipes. Really enjoying trying your recipes.
thanks alpa for sharing positive feedback on recipes.
Great recipe. Skipped the seeds and cream. Tastes awesome!
Keep the good work going!
thanks sneha
No need to add red chilli powder coz that green color change into little greenish brown color…
its not red chili powder. at least the amount in this recipe won’t bring so much change in the color. its turmeric that changes the color.
Mam,I did spinach corn yesterday and the taste was excellent.Thanks!! looking forward to do more receipes for your blog.Good day!!
welcome deepa. keep visiting the blog for more recipes.
Tried this receipe very first time came out very nice thanks for such a nice receipe..
welcome priya
Hi could you suggest a sustitute for watermelon seeds? I’m not sure where to get in the US. Or can you do without it? Thanks
just skip it in the recipe.
Was sceptical to try as there were not many comments for this recipe but all u readers pls try it. This dish is yummy.. great aroma too!
I loved the whole experience of cooking it and eating it. 🙂
thanks karunya for this positive feedback.
Palak and corn thats a nice combo…looks very tempting
thanks sharmilee
Hi..i dont have cream.can u please suggest the substitude for it.
skip the cream.