Adraki Aloo Palak - Ginger flavored Spinach and Potato Curry

When you mom tells you eat spinach, you eat spinach. Coz moms know best. Sometimes Popeye can also tell you the same thing. You listen to both. 

But what mom might not know is how great you can make spinach taste. And this surely tastes way better than what Popeye also eats out of a can. I don't care if he comes and blows me up for saying that. I mean it.

The inspiration for this dish came out of a  packaged ready to eat Haldiram pack of Adraki aloo palak. I'll confess - I've eaten it a couple of times. But I always find those things so full of oil. I have to skim out a whole layer of oil when I heat it up. And its always too spicy for me. So, I got over that pretty fast. 

But I was craving for this one day and decide to give it a shot myself. And this has become a staple in our house now and sometimes I mix up the greens too. Easy to make and absolutely perfect to eat with either rotis or even rice. And so much goodness in here too. What's not to like?

Get started with the basic favorites. Onions, Green chillies and tomatoes. Divide the onions into two sets - chop one set into big chunks and the other into small pieces. The big ones go in for grinding the masala and the small ones go directly in the curry.

Also chop some ginger and garlic or you can use a ready made ginger-garlic paste.

Wash a big bunch of spinach thoroughly. One of the best ways to wash it is put the whole lot in a big mixing bowl filled with water and let it sit for a couple of mins. You can see the dust settle at the bottom of the bowl. Wash it out and again rinse the spinach at least 3-4 times so you know it is clean.

In a wide pan, add about 2 tsps of cooking oil. Then add all these below

Jeera - 1 tbsp
Coriander Seeds - 2 tbsp
Green Chillies - 3-4 small ones chopped
Onions - about 1 cup chopped into big pieces
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Tomatoes - about 2-3 small ones chopped up

Saute the onions first before adding the ginger garlic paste and then add the tomatoes in there. Cook until they turn a little soft.

Now, add the spinach and let it wilt a little in here. Don't over cook the spinach.

Alternately, boil a couple of potatoes. I microwave them for about 6-8 mins with the skin on. Just wrap a couple of potatoes in a wet paper towel and put that in the microwave. Cooks perfectly and you have soft but firm potatoes ready.

Move all the onion - spinach mixture to a blender or a mixer.

Blend into a smooth puree.

I used the same pan and that's why have the brown rings around. So excuse that please!

Add in a couple of tsps of oil. Then, add the following -

Whole red chillies - 2-3
Ginger - about 1/4 - 1/2 cup equivalent - cut into long strips. Please use fresh soft ginger as these will be pieces of ginger that you will bite into
Onions - about 1/2 cup finely chopped

Next add the cooked and cut potatoes in here and cook for a min. Add salt to taste.

Next, add the pureed spinach mix to the potatoes.

Add all seasonings. Salt to taste, a pinch of turmeric, a pinch of red chilli powder and 1/2 tsp of garam masala. Cook for a few mins until the curry comes together and starts to thicken up. That's it! You're done! How easy was that?

Serve warm with rotis or even hot rice. This is a spicy spinach dish and not a bland one like most of the spinach curries out there. Try it and I'm sure you'll like it.

And yes, this is the way you'll want to eat Spinach without having your mom tell you one more time.

Click here for a printable recipe.

Enjoy. Peace out.