Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Spinach Pulav with Spinach Raita

Today it's double dose of spinach. Usually I serve Spinach pulav with plain homemade dahi/yoghurt but I had some baby spinach needed to be used so result was Spinach raita, which can also be used as a dip for any type of finger food : vegetable sticks, tandoori chicken etc. This pulav is another one pot dish I rely on whenever I'm in time crunch, not only easy to prepare but tasty too....

For Spinach Pulav :
What U need : 
  • 1 cup basmati rice, rinsed & soaked in water for at least 20 minutes
  • a big bunch of fresh spinach, washed & chopped
  • few small size frozen bhalle/vadas(fried lentil dumplings *see note)
  • 1 carrot finely chopped
  • 2-3 dry whole red chillies
  • around 1" piece of cinnamon stick
  • 3-4 cloves(laung)
  • 1 tsp. cumin(jeera)
  • 1/2 tsp. turmeric
  • 1 tsp. red chilli powder or 2-3 green chillies
  • salt
  • 1 tsp. garam masala
  • clarified butter(ghee)/cooking oil
What U do :
  1. In a heavy bottom pan heat little ghee/oil(1 Tblsp.). Add cumin, cinnamon stick, cloves & dry whole red chillies.
  2. Add drained rice & gently stir them so that they get the coating of oil.
  3. Add all the dry spices, stir. Add spinach, carrots & bhalle/vadas(if using). Do not soak the bhalle first in water.
  4. Add 2 cups of water. Cover & cook till the rice are done.
* Note : Use of ghee will make it more aromatic. Addition of bhalle makes this dish complete meal as it provides the protein. Whenever I make bhalle for dahi-bhalle I usually make few additional small bite size bhallas also, and freeze them which come handy in dishes like this. 

Variations : Instead of bhalle to get the dose of protein one can use nutri soy chunks, chicken or paneer cubes(Indian cheese). But in case of paneer add it once the pulav is cooked.

For Spinach Raita :
What U need :
  • 1 cup dahi/plain yoghurt
  • 1/2 cup chopped baby spinach (in case of regular spinach blanch it first)
  • salt
  • black pepper
What U do : Whisk the yoghurt & add rest of the ingredients. Serve it as a side dish for any kind of pulav or in this case with spinach pulav.

9 comments:

Veggie Hut said...

thats too good.. very healthy.. why dont u send it to the combo event.. nic epics

Sushma Mallya said...

love the recipe of raitha, totally new one for me and delicious rice too...lovely combo together...

Suparna said...

spinach in raita sounds good.
This one looks like a hearty spinach family meal! :P

ARUNA said...

It looks super delicious!!!

Spice said...

Thanks J, Sushma, suparna & Aruna....thanks J for the suggestion....

Tina said...

First time here....Both dish looks yummy and healthy...

Malar Gandhi said...

Oh yeah, I get it...this is 'Spinach Week Special' huh?! Believe it or not...I am going crazy over greens all the sudden for no reason, making lots of salads these days!!! This is so much better spinach pulav with spinach raita:)

Yasmeen said...

Lovely combo.Can never get enough of spinach ,isn't it? :D

Spice said...

@ Tina, thanks for stopping by....

@ Malar, good winters is the right season for eating more spinach.

@ Yasmeen, same here never feels it's enough........