“SPINACH – THE SUPERFOOD YOU NEED IN YOUR LIFE.”

This dish has a history behind it. During one of our family holidays, we were at Udaipur celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. Towards evening it tends to get quite chilly, of course all you need is a shawl or sweater to keep you warm. As always during a family holiday , the children take over the planning and we just have to follow them. I find it quite relaxing and stress-free.

We had dinner at Ambrai Ghat one evening and there was this manager who kept telling us to try out the Lasooni Palak as it was quite famous in this particular place . Well we gave in finally and ordered the dish. We were taken aback at the flavour of roasted garlic spread right through the dish. It was just so flavoursome that we had to reorder…

It’s now become a ‘must have’ on any vegetarian party menu that I plan.

It’s simple and packed with flavour.

Ingredients:

• Palak -1 bunch
• Garlic -2 big pods
• Cummin seeds -1tsp
• Dry red chillies – 4-6
• Onion minced -2 small
• Kashmiri chilli powder-1 tsp
• Turmeric powder -1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder-1 tsp
• Tomato -1 small minced
• Salt

To grind to a paste:

• Peanuts -1/2 cup (skinless and roasted)
• Channa dal -1/4 cup

Water- as required

Salt, oil and ghee

Method:

• Wash the palak well. Chop and keep aside.
• Chop garlic finely and keep aside. ( keep aside a few cloves of garlic. (6-8)
• In a mix of oil and ghee, and chopped garlic and chopped Palak . Fry well and keep aside.
• Add a little oil, add cummin seeds and dry red chillies (2-3).
• Add the chopped garlic and fry till fragrant.
• Add minced onion and fry well.
• Add all the spice powders and fry lightly.
• Add minced tomato and fry till soft.
• Add salt to taste and the paste of peanuts and channa dal and mix well. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover and cook on a low flame for 3-4 minutes. Taste for salt.
• And the chopped Palak and cook well. Add water if necessary for a semi- thick gravy.
• In a little ghee, add the whole cloves of garlic and a few dry red chillies and fry till brown.
• Garnish with the above and serve with roti/pulao of your choice.

Chefs tips:

• Always buy fresh greens. Wash thoroughly 3-4 times and place in a colander for all the water to drain out. Wipe lightly with a kitchen tissue and chop.
• Garlic takes some time to brown. Be patient.
• Frying the garnish in a little ghee will add to the flavour of the dish.
• This serves 2-4 adults.

Till my next post,

Rose

Cheers