Indian Punjabi Palak Kadhi - Spinach Curry with Yogurt Sauce

Submitted by PalatablePastime

"For Charishma! I hope you enjoy this."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 13mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 3 cups plain nonfat yogurt
• 4 -5 cups water, as needed
• 1⁄2 cup gram flour
• 2 tablespoons ground coriander
• 3⁄4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
• 5 serrano peppers, skins punctured to keep them from bursting
• 1⁄4 cup minced onion
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
• 5 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped
• 5 -7 dried hot red chili peppers
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1⁄2 teaspoon paprika

directions

1. In a food processor or blender, combine yogurt, 4 cups water, gram flour, 2 tablespoons coriander, turmeric, and salt (do this in 2 batches because of the volume); set aside.
2. Make sure yogurt is thoroughly blended, or it will curdle during the cooking process.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large wok or a saucepan over moderately high heat and cook, stirring, until the peppers sizzle, about 30-45 seconds (they may get white spots on them) (also, stand back in case peppers burst and may fly into your eyes).
4. Add the onion, ginger, and garlic, cooking until the onion is tender, about 2 minutes.
5. Very slowly add the yogurt mixture, stirring constantly, and bring it to a boil, cooking about 4-5 minutes.
6. Make sure you stir the yogurt or it will curdle.
7. Reduce wok heat if ingredients start to boil over.
8. Once liquid comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is smooth and silky, and oil becomes visible, about 45-50 minutes.
9. Adjust thickness of sauce with the exta cup of water, if needed (cook further if it is too thin).
10. Sauce can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
11. Stir in the fenugreek, then add spinach, and simmer about 5 minutes more.
12. Check consistency of sauce, and thin if necessary.
13. Heat remaining oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and briefly heat dried peppers (about 30 seconds), shaking pan; stir in coriander and remove from heat (alternatively, for an oil-free method, dry roast peppers and coriander briefly in pan, but do not toast the paprika).
14. Add paprika and IMMEDIATELY pour mixture over the curry; do not delay or the paprika will burn.
15. Serve at once with steamed basmati rice.

Reviews

[Charishma_Ramchandani]

Sue, I got around to making this today! I halved the recipe and prepared it. I did not have serrano peppers, so could not use those. Instead of those, I used 2 red chillies. Tossed those into 1 tbsp. oil and after about 3-4 minutes, tossed in the onions, ginger and garlic and then proceeded with the recipe as it is.Thanks for step number 9 - I did use an additional cup of water and the consistency then was just 'right'! In step 11, I'd like to suggest crumbling the methi leaves in between the palms of one's hand before tossing them into the curry - the real taste of the methi leaves just bursts forth on doing so!(Learnt this tip from a cooking show on TV and it really makes a difference). I omitted step number 13(as I wanted to go slow on the oil). But, I did add in the corriander powder and pepper powder and then stirred it in well, cooked for 2-4 minutes, removed from flame and then served it with white rice. It was "nice"! Thanks a bunch!