Just us girls for dinner, one night this week, and A came up with this old Indian favorite she wanted to try. There weren’t really any tried and true recipes out there, that we could find, anyway. Not even in Sanjeev Kapoor’s How to Cook Indian book that A got me for Mother’s Day. I suspect it’s just something families throw together without writing it down. Or perhaps it goes by a different name?

This is what we came up with based on eating it at a couple of different restaurants over the years. The seasonings came out beautifully warm. It was wonderfully filling, very low in calories, and being high in iron was a huge bonus. We will definitely be making this again soon. Maybe even yet today…

I know, I know, it’s not the most appetizing looking dish you’ve ever seen. Even possible the least appetizing one. But the flavors makes up for it tenfold. Trust me.

Aloo Palak
(Potatoes and Gravy ~ Girl style)

10 oz spinach, we used two of those tubs of baby spinach

12 oz fingerling potatoes, cubed into bite size pieces

2 onions, diced

2 garlic, roughly chopped

1″ fresh ginger, roughly chopped

1 diced jalapeño, (I used 1/2 tsp dried jalapeño, found when reorganizing the spices)

2 tablespoons butter

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

Greek yogurt

In a large skillet heat the butter until sizzling, add the garlic, ginger, onions and jalapeño and sauté for 5-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown.  Stir in the spinach, add 1/4 cup water, put a lid on it and let it cook for 5-10 minutes, long enough for the spinach to wilt but still be bright green.

Blend the spinach mixture in a food processor to a fine purée. That’s what we call gravy.

In the meantime, boil the potatoes with a sprinkling of salt until done, approximately 10 minutes, and drain.

Dry fry the turmeric, cumin seeds, garam masala, coriander and cumin for about 20 seconds or until fragrant.

Stir in the cooked potatoes and the pureed spinach gravy. Sprinkle with salt, a pretty good sprinkling, potatoes and spinach can handle it.

Simmer for few minutes until the potatoes absorb the flavor. You may need to add water or chicken stock if it’s too thick.

Top with a dollop of yogurt and enjoy!

Serves 2.

Let me know if you give it a go!