Palak Idlis

Spinach is one of my favourite leafy vegetable- nutritious and versatile. There are a gazillion recipes in various Indian cuisines. Here's my take on idlis with spinach.

 Ingredients

• 11/2 cup rice flour
• 2 tbsp Urad daal
• 2 tbsp Chana daal
• 2 tbsp Mung daal
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 1 cup frozen Palak /spinach (thawed). You can also use fresh spinach. Blanch it in hot water for five minutes and squeeze the excess water.
• 1 green chilli (optional)
• a pinch salt(optional)
• 1 tsp Eno/ fruit salt

Special equipment

Idli mould (available in any Indian grocery store)

Pressure cooker/ steamer.


Method

Rice-daal soaked in yogurt

• Grind the urad, chana and mung daal in a grinder into fine powder. I find a coffee grinder works best, but a regular grinder should also work. 
• Mix the ground daal into rice flour in a medium sized bowl, and soak it in yogurt. The consistency would be very dense. Add a little water if you feel the batter is still not moist. Let it soak for 4-5 hours.

Palak paste

• Grind the palak /spinach and green chilli with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste.

• Add palak paste to the Idli batter and mix gently.  

Rice-Daal batter and palak paste - before mixing

• Fill pressure cooker/ steamer with 1-2 inch water, and set on medium high heat.
• Add Eno into the batter, and mix gently. Tiny bubbles should form in the batter.

• Grease idli mould and pour 3/4th in each cavity of the mould.

Palak Idli batter in the idli mould

• Place the mould carefully in the steamer and cover. If using pressure cooker, do not use the whistle/ pressure. Steam for 10-12 minutes.
• Palak Idli is ready. Serve with coconut chutney. It is great as an appetizer or even a nice healthy lunch.

Bon Apetit!

Hetal from Houston

Palak Idlis

Spicy Tofu in Spinach Sauce

Last weekend we mostly ate out so Sunday night had to be  a healthy dine-in session. Tofu it is.. I thought…. but again food could not be too bland with Monday blues in mind !  So decided to experiment a little by cooking it the Indian way with some frozen spinach I had at home. It tasted so good that it deserved to be our blog’s next dish !!

Ingredients:

Cut pieces of tofu

1.     Tofu (14 oz cut into medium sized pieces)

2.    Chopped Frozen Spinach ( 10oz / small packet); 

   fresh spinach would be healthier and tastier is my guess

3.     Onion (1 medium sized, finely chopped)

4.     Garlic (3-4 cloves finely chopped)

5.     Tomato (1 medium sized, chopped well)

6.     Fresh Cilantro (chopped,  3-4 tbsp)

7.     Green chillies (2 , chopped well)

8.     Vegetable oil (1 tsp)

9.     Cumin seeds(1 tsp)

10.  Turmeric (1tsp)

11. Red chilli powder (1/2 -1  tsp); totally avoidable.I like food hot !!

12. Lime juice (1 tsp)

Method:

1.     Heat vegetable oil in a non stick pan and add cumin seeds. After oil is flavored , add green chillies and garlic and sauté for 2-3 mins . 

2.     Add chopped onions and fry for 5 mins

3.     Add tomatoes next and after 5-7 mins add turmeric and redchilli powder.

4.     Let it simmer for a few mins and add spinach and cilantro to the pan.

5.     Cook in medium flame for ~ 10 mins and add tofu.

6.     Simmer for 5 mins in low flame after mixing tofu well with the gravy.

Serve hot with rice, couscous or even bread !!! The dish was healthy enough with its share of greens and protein chunks with perfect zest of spices in it. Tofu of course can be well substituted with anything healthy or not so healthy depending on your preference !! :)

Enjoy :)

Ajanta from Amherst