
I had had enough, I wanted to eat and I wanted flavour personified and I wanted it now. Soft enough to chew, wet enough to swallow and pretty enough to admire, enter Palak.
Palak (Indian Spinach or Green sauce)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoon of ghee or butter
1 onion medium
2 tablespoons of ginger grated finely
4 cloves of garlic
2 fresh green chili (omit if you have not already experimented with chili)
2 teaspoons of cumin
2 teaspoons of coriander
2 teaspoons of garam masala
12 ounces of frozen spinach (if using fresh use about a med to large size bunch and remove stems)
1 cup water (filtered)
¾ cup plain yoghurt (I use thick and creamy Greek yoghurt (no sugar)
½ cup cashews (I also substitute pinenuts) I used raw but you could use roasted nuts for a fuller flavour.
½ teaspoon sugar (coconut sugar)
1 teapoon salt
Method
In a large pan, heat ghee or butter, add chopped onion, ginger, garlic and saute until deeply golden and fragrant. Add spices and sautee another three minutes. Add frozen spinach a cup of water and simmer until the spinach is thawed or sweated down if using fresh.
Sauteeing fresh spinach in a large saucepan with a lid. Fry off onions, ginger, garlic in butter or ghee.
Place the spinach mixture in a blender, add cashews, yoghurt, salt and sugar. Blend until silky smooth, if you need to add more water to get a super creamy silky consistency do so.
Additions. To this sauce you can add paneer – A type of cottage cheese or simply pour this sauce over rice, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.
After not eating via mouth for a few months, this dish is amazing for dulled senses and I found it so comforting to eat with panfried paneer, steamed rice and a big dollop of creamy yoghurt. It freezes well too.