My mom can’t believe that I actually cook so much of palak/spinach at my home. She tells me, I used to make a lot of fuss to eat this vegetable when I was a kid. The very thought of having something green swim in my plate, used to make me dislike this vegetable and mum had a tough time adding it to my diet.
Those days almost every kid was hooked on to the tele show ‘Popeye the Sailor Man’, who used to have a whole can/tin of Spinach to become strong and bash-up his enemies Sea Hag and Bluto, to save his lady love – Olive Oyl!
Luckily for mum, our neighbour’s son (a Punjabi) started teasing me that he eats a lot of palak/spinach and only he is strong like Pop-Eye. So I asked mom to prepare this vegetable but on one condition that she makes it in a subzi form and not green gravy!(Quite ironic that I now smack up the green gravy dish -Palak Paneer )
Aloo palak was the dish mom learnt from our Punjabi neighbour and I loved it. I still continue to make this dish often at my home, not only because I love it but now as a ‘Mother’, I want my kid to get the best nutrition. I now realise, why Mama used to beg us to eat these nutritious dishes.
For all you Mom’s and to-be moms out there…with love from a Mom just for you Aloo Palak!
Ingredients:
- 2 Bunches of Palak(wash well and chop fine)
- 2 Potatoes – chopped in cubes
- 2 Tomatoes – chopped fine
- 1 Onion – chopped fine
- 1 tsp of ginger-garlic paste
- 1 tsp Cumin powder
- 1 tsp Coriander powder
- 1/2 tsp Red chilli powder
- 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- 1-2 tbsp Oil
Optional
- 1 tsp Garam masala(whole spice powder)
Method:
- In a pan, heat oil and add onions, sauté till they turn transparent.
- Add ginger-garlic paste and fry.
- Then add cumin powder,coriander powder, red chilli powder, garam masala(optional) and turmeric powder and mix well.
- Now add potatoes and tomatoes.
- Fry well and cook till oil leaves the sides of the pan.
- Add palak and salt.
- Cook it for 20 minutes over medium flame.
- Aloo Palak is ready. Serve hot as a side dish with rice or rotis.
Preparation Time : 30 mins
Serves : 4