Palak Beetwala

This is a dish I made in a hurry using lost of ingredients that were just lying around, and would have caught fungus if I hadn't used them. So, the previous night I had boiled 2 beetroots and 1 potato and they were lying in the refrigerator. We had 1 bunch of fresh palak(spinach) too, so I decided to make something out of it. I've named it Palak Beetwala after it's main ingredients. Easy enough for anyone to figure out what it may contain....

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch palak(spinach), thoroughly cleaned


• 2 small beetroots, boiled, peeled and cut into small pieces


• 1 medium potato, boiled, peeled and cut into small pieces


• 1 tomato, cut into small pieces


• 1 small/medium onion, finely chopped


• 1/4 tsp Hing powder(asafoetida)


• 1/2 tsp Jeera(cumin seeds)


• 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely sliced


• 1 tsp finely ground ginger


• 1/2 tsp Haldi(turmeric powder)


• 1 tbsp butter(salted/unsalted)


• Salt to taste(about 1/2 tsp)

Procedure:

1. Take the Palak and add water just so that all the palak is immersed when you press down a bit. Boil it till the palak feels tender. The trick to boiling palak is to cook it on a medium-high flame instead of a low flame. This will prevent the green colour of the palak from fading away. Also cover it while cooking with a lid to prevent excessive oxidation which will again result in fading of the green colour.


2. Remove the palak from the water(Do NOT throw away the water. It will be used later in the recipe and is quite nutritious) and put it into a food processor(mixer in India). Also add the tomato and beet pieces to it. Run mixer for about a minute or till the mixture is semi-solid(not a completely thin paste).


3. Take a skillet and melt the butter in it. Heat the butter till it sizzles.


4. Add the hing powder and jeera.


5. Add onions and saute till they become golden-brown in colour.


6. Add the garlic and ginger paste and mix well.


7. Add the palak paste and potato pieces. Keep stirring to cook well. Add some of the water in which the palak was boiled to adjust the consistency of the mixture to something more desirable.


8. Add the haldi powder and salt and stir to mix well. Taste the mixture and adjust salt or other spices as per your taste.


9. Boil on low flame for about 10min or until desired consistency is reached.


10. Serves 3.

You can use the excess water that is drained off for other cooking purposes, to make bread, or as I do, add some dhania(corriander) powder, jeera powder, rock salt and table salt and drink up!

Serving suggestions: You can serve this dish with either chapati or as a soup with poached egg in the bowl. The runny egg yolk in the poached egg will enrich the taste of this dish.