Palak Kadhi (Spinach cooked in yogurt gravy)

Dear all,

I am back with another of my favorite dishes but this time with a healthy twist!

Kadhi has been my favorite since childhood. The satisfaction of having sizzling hot kadhi with khichdi with papad and some spicy pickle is simply out of this world! Its a must to make kadhi atleast once a week in my house. The sour flavor of curd with gramflour and spices really perks up the mood. I love to sip it just as it is like a soup and satisfaction which I get is seriously beyond words. Its my comfort food!

It hardly takes 10 mins to prepare kadhi so whenever I am in hurry this is always on my mind. There are various versions of Gujarati Kadhi but I prepare it in my mom style. For me she is the best cook and no matter what I cannot get the same flavors as her hand. Love you mom!

I am not overly fond of green leafy vegetables and hence always on a look out of new ways to incorporate them in my diet. What better way then add these to my favorite kadhi! I have cooked Palak Dal and really liked it so I was fairly confident kadhi and palak would go well and boy they did! This is a whole meal in itself and I love to have it as a soup! Its healthy and delicious and hardly takes any time to prepare. so lets get started with the recipe

Palak Kadhi
Ingredients:-
1 cup curd (yogurt) preferably sour
2 cups of water
2 cups of spinach leaves cleaned and finely chopped
2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
2 green chilies slit in half
Salt to taste
1 tbsp jaggery
2 tbsp finely chopped fresh coriander leaves


For Tempering:-
2 tbsp ghee or clarified butter
1 tsp jeera (which I forgot to add :( )
a generous pinch of asafoetida (hing)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
1 dry red chili

Procedure:-

• Beat besan, water and curd together well until there are no lumps, add in salt and beat once again and keep it aside
• In a pan heat ghee, add in jeera, cinnamon, cloves, red chili and hing.
• Now add in finely chopped spinach leaves, cover and cook for 4 to 5 mins.
• Once spinach is cooked, add in curd and besan mixture, green chilies and jaggery
• Cook in slow gas for 4 to 5 mins until it comes to a boil.
• Turn off the gas , sprinkle some fresh coriander leaves as garnish and serve hot with khichdi

Hope you all liked the recipe and do give it a try and let me know if you have any questions or doubts.
Until next time take care and stay healthy!

Traditional Gujarati Kadhi

Kadhi its a very special dish for me as its my favorite and my mom's best dish, although i love all dishes she prepares :) Kadhi has rich and creamy consistency along with sweet and sour taste. Kadhi is best served with hot mildly spiced khichdi drizzled with lots of ghee :) You can add different veggies too.....my mom's specialty is adding grated potatoes which i have skipped here.

I have prepared this kadhi using the traditional way which my mom and aunts used to prepare. My mom is originally from Porbandar which is a small city in Saurashtra now part of Gujarat. Porbandar is well known as Mahatma Gandhi's birth place. During our summer vacations back in school we always used to visit my masi (mom's elder sis) who lives in porbandar. We all children used to gather and have so much of fun, playing cards and having ice golas were the most important part of our day to day activites :) Porbandar being on the sea side is always very cooler even during summer, evenings are pleasant and nights are cold. During these nights we used to enjoy having hot khichdi kadhi along with onions and buttermilk. Simple and satisfying meal after playing so hard the whole day :) Sending this dish to Village Special Recipes event hosted by Shama and to Festive Food : Summer Treat event by Priti.

The recipe below will serve 4.

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt
3 tbsp besan or chickpea flour
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 green chillies chopped finely or sliced in middle
1 tsp grated ginger(I used ginger paste)
1 tsp sugar or small piece of jaggery(I used jaggery)
3 cups of water


For Tempering:
1 tsp oil
1 tsp ghee
2 whole dry red chillies
1 generous pinch of asafoetida
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
7-8 curry leaves
1 small piece of cinnamon
4-5 whole cloves
Coriander leaves for garnishing





Procedure:

• Mix together curd, besan, salt, turmeric, ginger, jaggery and water in a bowl.
• Using a hand blender mix it well.
• Heat the kadhi on medium heat until it comes to simmer, boil it for 2 to 3 mins.
• For tempering in a seperate vessel, heat oil and ghee, when hot add in cumin seeds, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, red chillies, asafoetida, cloves, cinnamon and curry leaves.
• As soon as the seeds start to splutter and you get a nice aroma add these to the kadhi mixture.
• Cook the kadhi on medium heat for about 5 to 8 mins.
• Garnish with coriander and serve hot with khichdi

This dish is off to Flavors Of Gujarat an event by Nayna