I love Indian food, the spices and the sauces. My brother cooks really good vegetarian Indian dishes like the
Kashmiri Aloo Dum - potatoes and chickpeas and a creamy yoghurt sauce. Now, he tried out an Indian spinach recipe. It's called Aloo Palak and according to the name it actually only comes with potatoes (aloo). However, my brother added some chickpeas which fit really nicely. As he added another ingredient, it is really important to use the right amount of the Indian spices. The dish incorporates a lot of the traditional Indian spices - cumin, tumeric (or curcuma), garam masala, asfoetida and ginger... As in most Indian dishes, one of the first steps is to sauté some of these spices and seeds to develop the fragant flavors...
Here is my try of recreating my brother's Aloo Palak :)
Note: Seve it with Basmati or Yasmine rice. These are long-grain rices that are fluffy and do not clump.
Ingredients:
- 3 Tbsp oil
- 2 tsp cumin seeds
- 2 cloves garlic - minced
- 1 Tbsp ginger paste
- 2 medium sized onions - finely chopped
- 3 tomatoes - finely chopped
- 3-5 green chilies (or green bell pepper)
- 1 tsp tumeric/curcuma powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp asfoetida
- salt, pepper to taste
- 2 cups water
- 250g spinach - finely chopped
- 2 cups potatoes - preboiled and cubed
- 1 cup chickpeas
Preparation:
Boil potatoes till almost soft (appr. 70% done). Prepare Basmati rice.
- Heat oil. Add cumin seeds, cook for a minute till slightly brown. Add minced garlic and ginger paster, stir and cook for 30 seconds. Add the onions and fry till light golden brown. Now, add the tomatoes and chilies. Cook for 5 minutes. Add the tumeric powder, chili powder, sugar, garam masala, asfoetida, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and sauté spices for half a minutes to fully develop the flavors.
- Add water. Stir well and cook till the sauce thickens.
- Add the spinach, mix well and cook for 3 minutes. Now, add the potatoes and chickpeas, mix everything. Cover with a lid and cook for 5 minutes, till potatoes are soft and gravy thick enough.
- Serve with basmati rice and naan.
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