Zaiqa

One of the most usual accompaniments to khatti dal and rice, or parathas at meals, palak gosht is a simple spinach+meat medley that both nourishes as well as satisfies. It is comfort food for me. Give me this combination and I will happily gobble it all up anytime.

Fresh Spinach leaves – Palak

You can even use frozen spinach as it will save both time and effort. However, fresh is best and always recommended. Make sure you wash the fresh spinach leaves well before use.

Palak Gosht – Spinach Meat curry

Ingredients:

Lamb Meat with bone – 500 gms
Canola oil – 2 tbsp
Onion – 1, medium, finely sliced
Red chilli powder – 3 tsp
Green chillies – 6, chopped
Salt – 2 ½ tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Ginger-garlic paste – 1 tbsp
Tomato – 1, chopped
Fresh Spinach/Palak – 300 gms (or) Frozen Spinach – 300 gms
Dill leaves/Suva bhaji – 1/2 cup, finely chopped (optional)

Palak Gosht – Spinach Meat curry

Method:

1. If using fresh spinach: Wash the spinach carefully. Cut and discard the thick stems. Hold the leaves together in a bunch and cut into thin strips. Again cut these strips thinly in opposite direction.
2. In a pressure cooker at medium high heat, add oil and as soon as it warms up, add the sliced onion. Stir fry until golden brown. Add ginger garlic paste, chopped green chillies, red chilli powder, salt and turmeric powder. In a minute add the meat with bones and mix well. Cook until the meat is no longer pink. Now add the chopped tomatoes. Mix well. Pour in about 1 ½ cup fresh cool water and pressure cook until the meat is tender. Once done, open the lid and cook at medium hight heat while stirring frequently until the mixture dries up and starts leaving oil. Add the chopped spinach and chopped dill leaves and pressure cook for 3 more minutes. Open the lid and cook for 10 minutes at medium high heat. You can cook until the curry is dry, or leave a little gravy if you like. Serve warm.

Luv,
Mona

It has been raining since a few days here, and I was craving for some snacks. Palak Pakodi with Til ki Chutney is what I prepared today and we enjoyed it الحمد لله along with chai.

Palak ki Pakodi – Spinack Fritters

Ingredients:

Spinach – 100 gms

Palak – Spinach

For the batter:-

Gram flour/Besan – 1 cup
Cool fresh water – 1 cup
Red Chilli powder – 1 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Turmeric – 1/4 tsp
Ginger garlic paste – 1 tsp

Palak ki Pakodi – Spinack Fritters

Method:

1. Heat oil in a kadai to deep fry the fritters.
2. In a bowl, prepare the batter. Mix all the ingredients under the heading for the batter until the batter is smooth. Keep aside.

Spinach strips in batter

3. Wash and pat dry the spinach thoroughly. Discard stems and pile the spinach one above the other. Cut into strips and add it to the batter. Using a fork mix well and gently lift a small amount in the fork and drop it into the hot oil in the kadai. Deep fry on both sides until golden brown in color, around 3-5 minutes.
4. Remove the fritters into a large wire mesh strainer for the excess oil to drip off.

Til ki Chutney – Sesame seed Chutney

Ingredients:

Sesame seeds/Til – 1/2 cup
Small green chillies – 5, stems discarded, roughly chopped
Tamarind concentrate – 2 tbsp
Fresh Chopped Cilantro/Kothmir – 1 tbsp
Fresh Mint leaves/Pudina – 6 leaves
Garlic cloves – 2
Salt – to taste
Fresh cool water – 3/4 cup

Til ki Chutney – Sesame seed Chutney

Method:

1. In a pan at medium high heat, dry roast the sesame seeds until lightly golden brown in color. Remove the pan from heat and keep aside to cool.

Dry roasted Sesame seeds

2. Once the sesame seeds are completely cooled, add the rest of the ingredients and grind in a blender until smooth. Add more water if you need. Adjust salt to taste.
3. Prepare baghaar/tempering in a pan- pour 1 tbsp oil in a frying pan at medium hight heat. Add 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 dry red chillies, and a few curry leaves. As they crackle, remove from heat and mix into the chutney. Serve.

Dip the Spinach fritters into the chutney and enjoy as a snack.

I also prepare this snack along with the chutney quite usually in Ramadan at Iftaar. This is my entry to the ‘Hyderabadi Ramadan Food Festival ’09’ that I am hosting on my blog.
Do send me your entries as soon as possible before Ramadan starts. The deadline is 20th August ‘09.

Luv,
Mona

This is my favorite brunch on a lazy weekend morning, Palak-Tamatar Ki Subzi with warm Parathas. Hmmm, comforting!

Palak-Tamatar Ki Subzi / Spinach in Tomato-Onion Gravy

The base I use for this spinach curry is a simple tomato-onion gravy. And as fresh spinach is not very easily available all the time, I usually get many frozen spinach boxes, as it will be much easier for me to quickly prepare any curry using these. You all can however use fresh spinach if you have assess to it, I do not get to see many fresh desi greens here. You can enjoy this curry along with rice too, but I always prefer to have it along with my warm parathas. You will love and enjoy it.

Palak-Tamatar Ki Subzi / Spinach in Tomato-Onion Gravy

Ingredients:

Canola Oil – 2 tbsp
Yellow Onions – 2, medium, chopped fine
Ginger-Garlic Paste – 1 tsp
Ripe Red Tomatoes – 2, medium, chopped
Red Chilli Powder – 1 1/3 tsp
Salt – 1 tsp
Fresh/Frozen Chopped Spinach – 300 gms

Method:

-Pour oil into a small sized saucepan on medium heat and as soon it gets hot, throw in the chopped onions. -Stir fry them till they light brown in colour, then add ginger garlic paste to it. Saute the mixture for about 2 minutes.
-Add the chopped tomatoes and a cup of water, mix it well. Then close the lid of the saucepan and let it cook for about 5-8 minutes till the tomatoes are all mushy. Keep stirring it occasionally just to keep a check if it isnt drying up or getting burnt.
-Add the frozen thawed spinach and again close the lid. Keep stirring the mixture every now and then, till the Spinach is nicely mixed with the Tomato-Onion mixture.
-Sprinkle Red Chilli powder and Salt. Let it cook on low heat. You can add a little more water if needed. Once Done, serve hot with Warm Parathas. Enjoy.

And while having this brunch, you can have a look at the New Hyderabad International Airport soon to be opened, probably by next month at Shamshabad. Its beautiful and i’m proud of it.

Also, Download and check out Kanye West’s Performance at the recent Grammy awards. Its awesome !

Luv,
Mona

I haven’t been a big fan of Spinach, either in salad or as curries since childhood, and my hubby also somehow falls into the same category. But because of its high nutrient value especially in the Iron content, I make it a point to regularly prepare and serve spinach in different forms each time. Out of all those, this curry is most loved by everyone in my house and gets finished in a jiffy. So, I thought of sharing it here with you all.

Palak Murgh – Chicken with Spinach curry

It is a simple curry which can be prepared very quickly and I love to enjoy it with Parathas, but I also sometimes, like today, like to have it with Basmati Chawal and Khatti Dal. Spinach is very good for health, especially for anaemic girls, and it combination with boneless breast pieces of Chicken makes it all the more nutritious.

Well, Speaking of Girls. I recently watched the movie ‘Chak De‘ with my miya and I enjoyed every bit of it. It is very beautifully directed, and I never felt bored for a single minute. For all those of you who haven’t yet seen that movie, go watch it!

Here goes the Recipe, Enjoy.

Palak Murgh – Chicken With Spinach curry

Ingredients:

Boneless Chicken Pieces – 250 gms, cut into 2 cm cubes (you can also use chicken meat with bone)
Black Cumin Seeds – 1/2 tsp
Dried Red chillies – 2, eacg split in half and seeds shaken out
Fresh or Frozen Chopped Spinach – 300 gms
Onions – 1, large, thinly sliced
Garam Masala – 1 tsp
Red chilli powder – 1 /4 tsp
Salt – 2 tsp
Turmeric – 1/2 tsp
Tomato Paste – 1 tbsp
Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
Ginger Garlic Paste – 1 1/3 tsp

Method:

Pour oil into a heavy bottomed pan at medium heat and throw in the black cumin seeds and the dried red chillies. Once they start to splutter, add the sliced onions and stir fry until lightly browned. Add the ginger-garlic paste and mix well. Fry for 3 more minutes. Now add the chicken pieces and stir fry them gently until opaque and no longer pink. Add the frozen spinach and a cup of water and close the lid. Let it cook on low heat for 5 minutes. Later, open the lid and add the garam masala, red chilli powder, salt, turmeric. Mix well. Drop in the tomato paste and mix well (you can also add 1 large chopped red tomato instead of the paste). Pour in another cup of water and let it cook for another 8 minutes, stirring it occasionally. Once the chicken is done, and you get the consistency you like, remove from heat and serve hot immediately.

Suggested Accompaniments: We savor this dish along with Rotis or Basmati Chawal and Khatti Dal for a meal.

Luv,
Mona

As usual, today I was scanning the refrigerator for ingredients to prepare a curry for the lunch. I found some frozen spinach and paneer in the deep freezer. Palak Paneer is what striked my mind and I immediately began to work my way to prepare it.

This is great with Parathas, or even along with rice. This dish can be found on the menu of most North Indian restaurants all over the world. Here, I have used Frozen spinach for my convenience, you can substitute it with equal amount of fresh spinach.

Ingredients:

• Frozen/Fresh Chopped Spinach – 500 gms
• Yellow Onion – 1, large, chopped
• Tomato – 2, large, chopped
• Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbs
• Canola Oil – 4 tbsp
• Green Chilli – 1 tsp, chopped
• Garam masala – 1 tsp
• Salt – 2 tsp
• Red chilli flakes – 1/2 tsp
• Paneer/Cottage cheese – 250 gms, cubed
• Canola Oil for frying paneer
• Light Cream -2 tbsp

Method:

• In a pan, add a tablespoon of oil and fry the onions till very light brown.
• Add ginger-garlic paste, and green chilli paste and give it a good stir.
• After 3 minutes add, the chopped tomatoes and the spinach.
• Cover the lid of the pan and let it cook on simmer until the spinach is soft and pasty. Add a little water if needed to make the spinach soft and mushy.
• Cool and grind the above spinach mixture to a paste.
• Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan and deep fry the cubed paneer/cottage cheese till light browned on all sides. Remove the paneer from the oil into a bowl and keep aside.
• In a another pan pour the remaining oil and add cumin seeds, let them splutter.
• Now add the grinded paste of spinach to the pan, sprinkle in the garam masala and salt. Reduce heat and stir well.
• Add the paneer pieces and gentlymix them into the spinach paste.
• Simmer for 2-3 minutes, and take the pan off the heat. The paneer will soften in the heat.
• Serve hot, swirled with the cream.

Luv,
Mona