Creamy Potato Spinach 'Aloo palak malaiwale'

Creamy Potato Spinach 'Aloo palak malaiwale' 

There here are some dishes which you anyway know are going to be delicious because butter and cream makes everything extra delicious. Now normally I don't even bring in fresh cream in my house because the thought of those extra kilograms hanging from everywhere on my body  is not something I relish thinking about but then there are those special occasions when you can actually indulge and my mother-in-law's visit is reason enough to make a creamy lip-smacking Aloo Palak Malaiawale aka Creamy Potato Spinach.

Now before I share the this recipe let me tell my readers from before that any substitution of the ghee or cream used here will not render the same results at all. In case you want to not use ghee the only other substitute for ghee can be mustard oil but even that cannot give it that delicious taste that ghee gives .

Anyway moving on to the recipe

Serves 3 to 4

4 medium sized potatoes cubed into medium size
1 large bunch of spinach
1.5 tbsp minced garlic
1 inch ginger chopped julienne
1 green chili julienne
Salt as per taste
4 cups of water
4 heaped tbsp fresh cream
2 heaped tsp clarified butter 'ghee'
Pinch of asafoetida 'hing'
Garam masala made with 1/2 black cardamom, 1 green cardamom, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 tsp coriander seeds, 1 blade of mace, pinch of nutmeg, 1 bay leaf , 1/2 inch cinnamon, 3 cloves
3 to 4 green chilies
Dollop of butter

Start by dry roasting the ingredients for your 'Garam Masala' and then grinding it to a fine powdery consistency.

Now ever since I read this Italian chef's tips on maintaining the green colour of spinach I have never had  trouble with maintaining its colour. Its simple actually. Wash the spinach well. The easiest way to make sure you get rid of all the dirt is to fill a bit pan with water and then chopping off the end of the spinach and soaking the leaves in the water and rubbing them and cleaning them. This mostly gets out all the dirt.             Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Now add the chopped spinach leaves and let it boil for exactly 2 minutes and immediately take out the spinach and there you have boiled green spinach. Reserve the water in which you have cooked the spinach.

Cube the potatoes and heat the ghee and add the asafoetida 'hing' and when it splutters add the minced garlic, ginger and chili  and saute till softened and add the potatoes and cook on medium heat to saute the potatoes and add the reserved spinach water and bring to a boil and add salt and then simmer covered till the potatoes are mostly cooked. It might take anything between 10 minutes to 15 minutes.

In the meantime make a paste of the cooked spinach and 3 green chilies.

Now add half the garam masala and remove the cover and cook till the curry dries up. Add the spinach paste and mix well and then add the cream and mix well and simmer for 2 minutes . taste and add salt if required. Serve with a dollop of butter on top with soft chapatis or hot fluffy rice.

Ghee Roast Chicken Pilaf

Ghee Roast Chicken Pilaf 

There are times when the name of a recipe is tempting enough for you to try your hands on it even without reading through the recipe at all and the bonus is that you create a  dish. So the name was 'Ghee roast Murgh' which translates to Clarified butter roast Chicken. Now anyone who has used clarified butter would be familiar with its beautiful sweet aroma and the delightful taste it imparts .So this time I tried a simple marinate and what followed was this :-

Serves 1

1 Chicken leg + thigh without the skin
1.5 tsp ghee aka clarified butter
1/4th tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp paprika or if you don't have it then use Kashmiri Red chili powder
1 blade of mace crushed
Tiny pinch of Nutmeg
Salt as per taste

For the pilaf

1 cup of cooked basmati rice
A big handful of cranberries
A tiny pinch of nutmeg powder
1 tsp ghee/ clarified butter


Simply marinate the chicken with clarified butter, cinnamon, paprika or kashmiri red chili powder, salt, mace and nutmeg and let it marinate well for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 180 C and place the chicken on a rack and put a bowl beneath the chicken on the lower rack so that it collects the juices and roast for 15 minutes and then turn the chicken and roast for another 15 minutes. Now place the rice in the bowl which has collected the juices and mix well and place the chicken on top and bake for another 5 minutes. Its a mild flavoured dish and somehow with the spices and flavour of ghee it works in the summers because of the light texture  and the cranberries give it a nice tangy flavour.

Tips to cook the rice :-

1. Take double the amount of water of rice and bring to a boil and cover and simmer for 15 minutes. If the crockpot is too small the bubbles might come out in that case leave a gap when placing the lid and once the water gets absorbed cover completely and cook. 
2. Once you have cooked the rice let ti stay with the lid on for 5 minutes and then serve it.