Palak Rice

"I am Popeye the Sailor Man!!!", the only words which come to my mind when I hear the word palak. I used to love the way Popeye used to get all his strength from Spinach and used to save Olive from Bluto. His intelligence used to amaze me. I would go to my mom and say I want to have Spinach too. But the moment I used to out it in my mouth I used to spit it out and say, this is palak not Spinach. Ha Ha!!!

Well now I love eating palak. But I think its too late now to get the super-powers from it as I missed it out in my childhood.

Serves:2

Recipe: Veg Recipes of India


Preparation time: 1 hour 30 min

Cook Time:10 min

Ingredients:

Basmati Rice: 1 cup (Soak in water for 1 hour and cook with few drops of ghee so that the grains can be separated)  
Onion: 1 big (finely chopped)
Ginger Garlic Paste: 1  tbsp
Tomato: 1 and 1/2 (chopped)
Ghee: 2 tbsp
Salt according to Taste

List 1:
Spinach Leaves: 1 medium sized bundle (rinse and chop finely)
Mint Leaves: 1 small bunch (rinse and chop finely)
Coriander Leaves: 1 small bunch (rinse and chop finely)
Green Chilli: 5-6
Almonds: 5-6 (Soak in hot water for half an hour and finely chop)

List 2: (Whole Spices)
Cinnamon: 1 inch
Cardamom: 2
Cloves: 3-4
Bay Leaf: 1
Fennel Seeds: 1 tsp (can be substituted with its powder too)

List 3: (Spice Powders)
Chilli Powder: 1/4 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Garam Masala: 1/4 tsp
Coriander Powder: 1/4 tsp
Cumin Powder: 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida: a pinch

Procedure:

1. In a deep bottomed pan/ kadai add ghee followed by all the spices on list 2 one by one till they give out a nice flavor.
2. Add in the chopped onions and fry till translucent followed by ginger-garlic paste.
3. Add in the finely chopped tomatoes till they turn mushy.
4. Grind all the ingredients on list 1 using a blender and make a puree.
5. Once the tomatoes are cooked add the puree and keep stirring on a low flame.
6. Lower the flame and add all the spice powders on list 3 for 3-4 min.
7. Add the cooked rice and mix the puree with the rice.
8. Serve with yogurt or sweet raitha.