Of late have developed a liking for spinach. So have that sitting my my fridge almost all the time.
Spinach has a whole load of qualities and can be eaten as numerous ways. Even if eaten raw, its amazing.
A dish I recently learnt is 'Sai Bhaaji'. Its a sindhi dish and means - Curry made with green leafy vegetable. A very healthy dish, which is filled with all the nutrients from the vegetables :o) especially due to its way of cooking.
Ingredients -
1/2 a bunch of Spinach leaves (Palak)
1/4 bunch of Fenugreek leaves ( Methi)
Corander leaves
3/4 cup Chick Pea lentil
1 medium sized tomato
1 small onion
6-7 pods of garlic (indian sized pods which are almost 1/2cm thick)
1 inch of ginger
green chilly to preference
Oil for cooking
Spices - Turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder, Salt
For preparation before the actual cooking -
We start with soaking the chick pea lentil for about 30-40mins.
Peel the onion, garlic & ginger, wash and finely chop them
Note - Remember to take away the part from which the root grows. Its not good to eat, and I have heard its cancerous aswell
Wash the green leafy vegetables and chop them.
Tip - You should always wash vegetables, and then chop them. if you wash after chopping the nutrition in them is going to wash away too.
Finely chop the tomatoes, and green chilly too.
In a cooker, put 2 spoonfull of oil. First put the finely chopped onions and saute for bout 2mins. Then the finely chopped garlic, followed by ginger in another 30secs. Saute for another minute and then put 1/2 spoon of turmeric powder, chilly powder to taste and 1 and 1/2 spoon of coriander powder. After a minute add the chopped tomatoes and green chillies. Cook until tomato is tender, say about 2-3mins. Then add the spinach leaves, fenugreek leaves and coriander leaves. Saute for another 3-4mins and then add the soaked lentil. Finally add water, and don't add too much water, as spinach with leave some water aswell, so add water about 3/4cm high from the level of lentil. Let it come to a boil and add salt to taste. Close the lid of the pressure cooker. After one whistle from the pressure cooker, lower the heat to the minimum and cook for another 10-15mins. Then switch off the heat under the cooker.
On opening the cooker, use your spoon to mildly grind the cooked lentil so that the lentil pieces or the leaves are not so evidently visible. They must form a nice blend. Sai bhaji is normally a bit on the thicker side, not very watery.
Sai bhaji can be served with boiled rice or chapatis.
Yummm....I have just had it with rice, and it tastes really nice.
Enjoy eating!!!!!
