Spinach Chickpea Soup

It was raining outside and very nice and cool inside the house. The sweet smell of rain,  a mood to cook something different, to see my loved ones enjoying their food, the satisfaction coming from that… all that inspired me to cook this wonderful soup.

Or you can say that a bunch of spinach leaves about to wilt, chickpeas frozen to death, potatoes dying for attention and immense laziness to cook up a whole dinner led me to whip this up.

Whatever be the reason to cook, this garlic flavored soup tasted wonderful. With potatoes and chickpeas in it, you can have them as the main meal itself (there by saving yourself the trouble of cooking anything more).

Warm toasted bread, a bowl of hot soup, great company, candle light dinner and rain outside. Cannot ask for more in life! (hmmm…may be for the power to come back soon!)

Ingredients:

• Onion                              :   1, chopped
• Garlic                              :   4 cloves, chopped
• Spinach                          :   1 bunch, cleaned and chopped
• Chana/Chick pea        :   400 gms, cooked
• Potatoes                         :   3 big, cooked and chopped
• Fennel Powder             :   1 tsp
• Coriander Powder      :   1 tsp
• Milk                                  :    2/3 cup (or Cream)
• Corn Flour                     :   1 tbsp
• Stock                                :   4 cups
• Tahini paste                  :   1 tbsp
• Olive oil                          :   1 tbsp
• Salt and Pepper

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and garlic. When the onion turns brown, add the cumin or fennel powder and coriander powder. Cook for 2 minutes and add the spinach.
2. When the spinach is slightly done, add 3 cups of water or vegetable stock. I used Maggi stock cubes for this.
3. Add the cooked potatoes and chickpea now. Let everything come to a boil.
4. In a separate bowl, add the cornflour, tahini paste(if using), milk, salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly so that there aren’t any dry lumps of corn flour.
5. Add this to the soup and let it all come to a boil. Cook for another 5 minutes, check and adjust seasonings according to your taste. Take off the heat and serve hot.

Note:

I have adapted this from Linda Fraser’s book : The Vegetarian Kitchen.

Linked to:

• Hearth and Soul Hop
• Dish It Out, for this month’s theme of Potatoes and Leafy Greens
• My Legume Love Affair, started by Susan
• Herbs and Flowers, for this month’s theme : Garlic

Mac and Cheese

I am home now, after visiting my brother for four days.

My 3.5 months old niece is not only the cutest baby I have seen, she is the smartest one too. In a short span of 3.5 months, she has trained my brother and sister-in-law efficiently.

She has categorized a sound system for hunger and boredom. If one gets it wrong, she would let out a war cry. Why, she had me trained in just two days!

Niecey has a way of asking us to pick her up by trying to lift her body. If you don’t pick her up, then you get a nice scolding from her in her own language. She goes ‘Wah Wah Wah’ like Donald Duck does, when he gets angry.

Well, the cute way in which she asks to be lifted, no one can resist picking her up actually.

I miss her a lot, now that I am back home. Her ‘Waaahs’ and ‘Ga Ga’s and ‘AHHHHH’s are still fresh in my mind. I sometimes have this crazy thought of catching a train and going back to see her, and ‘Goo Goo’ with her.

Well, can’t do crazy things (anymore), so just made some Mac and Cheese, the ultimate comfort food and ate my way through.

I had a Linky Party Invitation from Tina Hudgens of MOMS CRAZY COOKING last month. Not one to miss any kind of party, I hopped in. So here I am, with the MAC and CHEESE, for the first

You can check out here to see the fellow bloggers take on Macaroni and Cheese.

Ingredients:

• Macaroni or Pasta of any shape        :       1/2 cup
• Spinach leaves                                          :      10 large leaves, chopped fine
• Onion                                                            :      1 small, chopped fine
• Potato                                                           :      1/2 small, boiled and mashed
• Milk                                                                :      1/2 cup
• Cheese of your choice                            :      1/4 – 1/2 cup
• Garlic                                                             :      1-2 cloves, chopped fine
• Turmeric Powder                                     :       1/4 tsp (optional)
• Butter                                                            :       1 – 2 tsp
• Salt & Pepper

Method:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions. Keep aside.
2. Heat butter in a pan, add the onion and garlic. When the onion turns brown, add the spinach leaves and turmeric powder (if using), salt and pepper. Saute for 2-3 minutes till the spinach is cooked.
3. Add the mashed potatoes. Mix well and add the milk. Once the milk boils, add the pasta and the cheese.
4. Let the cheese melt. Adjust the sauce consistency by adding more milk (if sauce is too thick) or a bit more of mashed potato (if the sauce is watery).
5. Serve warm.

Note:

Recipe serves one hungry 5 year old.

I have adapted the recipe from Radhika’s blog. Head out to her blog for awesome photos and the original recipe. I have just doubled the quantity to suit my needs.

Like the cup says, this goes best with a hug :-)

You can check out here to see the fellow bloggers take on Macaroni and Cheese.

Linked to:

• Crazy Cooking Challenge
• Dish It Out, for this month’s theme of Potatoes and Leafy Greens

Soya & Spinach Puris

While contemplating about weight gain over a bowl of ice cream, my friend reflected that – If the food is very very tasty, you can be sure that its  fatty. True… how true!!

The foods that make you drool are almost always fattening! Cakes, chocolate, ice cream – Uh hmm… not good for your backside! Try switching your tracks and think about savory goodies. The first thing that comes to your mind is potato chips. Slowly other deep fried items like vada, bonda, puffs follow…Sigh…

Poori is also one of the guilt treats. Harry and Bebo love these. I don’t know how to deep fry, am simply scared of handling hot oil. On second thoughts, its good that I am scared of oil. I am doing enough damage in the form of baked goodies!

These were made finally when Harry’s mother was visiting us. It has soya flour and spinach. This is as healthy as an unhealthy item can get ;-).

These colorful Palak Pooris, made with less than 5 ingredients, are my entry for the second day of Blogging Marathon.

Ingredients:

• Wheat Flour/Atta               :   1 cup
• Soya Powder                         :   1/4 cup
• Rava/Semolina                    :   1 tbsp
• Spinach                                   :   1 cup chopped, half of a small bunch
• Oil                                              :    to deep fry

Method:

1. Grind soya chunks into a fine powder. Measure 1/4 cup of this and add the wheat flour and rava (if using) to it.
2. Wash and clean the spinach leaves. Boil in a quarter cup of water for 2 minutes. Cool and blend into a puree.
3. Add the soya, rava and wheat flours to the spinach puree and kneed to get a dough without adding any water.
4. Divide the dough into small balls. Roll them into slightly thick circles of about 5″ diameter.
5. Deep fry in oil and serve hot with potato masala.

Note:

The original recipe is from Nita Mehta’s book ‘Food for Children’.

The addition of rava makes the puri crisp. I didn’t use this though.

You shouldn’t rest the puri dough, since that would make it greasy (it seems).

Beetroot or pumpkin puree can be substituted for spinach to get purple or yellow puris.

Check out here to see what other fellow bloggers are doing.

Linked to

• Blogging Marathon
• Lets Cook – Scrumptious Breakfasts
• Serve It series, for this month’s theme Serve It Fried

Spinach Pulao

Harry’s friends from work had come over for dinner one day, long time back. All of them youngsters, staying away from home. Sick and tired of the eating the same food at office everyday, they were looking forward to some good home cooked meal. After eating the first bite, they told me that its no wonder Harry has his lunch at office canteen ;-). All of us laughed at the joke and braved our way through the rest of the dinner. They were honest kids, trying very hard to say something complimentary. And, finally when we came to the curd rice, they were happy – they could honestly complement me on that one :-)). They left home, happily looking forward to their boring, repetitive canteen food.

I am a not bad cook, but I am an inconsistent one. I mess up with quantities too. I know how to cook for four people at the most. One more addition and I am gone! Like today, I was cooking for some guests and I was making this spinach rice recipe, I messed up with the quantity. I was sweating over the stove, making chapatis at the last minute to make up the mistake. I didn’t get any huge compliments for the lunch today, but hey, I am not complaining. No one was running away and there were requests for second helping.

For me, that’s more than enough!

Ingredients:

Rice : 2 cups
Green gram: 1 cup
Spinach : 1 bunch
Onion : 1 large, chopped
Oil : 1-2 tsp

Grind together:
Coriander leaves : 1 small bunch ( 1 cup)
Mint leaves : 1 small bunch (1 cup)
Ginger garlic paste : 2tsp
Green Chilies : 2-3, per taste
Cumin/Jeera : 1/2 tsp
Onion : 1 (optional)
Tamarind : 1 tsp (optional)
Coconut : 2 tbsp, scraped (optional)
Cinnamon stick : 1″ piece (optional)
Cloves : 1-2  (optional)

Method: 

1. Soak rice and dal separately for 30 min at least. Cook the dal for one whistle in a pressure cooker and keep aside.
2. Grind the coriander, mint and other items under the list together, without adding any additional water.
3. Clean and chop the spinach fine. Heat oil and add the chopped onions. Saute for a minute, then add the spinach and the ground paste. Cook for 3-4 minutes or till a nice aroma is released.
4. Add rice and mix nicely. Add green gram, salt, 4 cups of water and cook till the rice is done. I usually transfer this to a rice cooker at this stage. If you are using a pressure cooker, it should be cooked for about 4-5 whistles. Serve with raita or curd.

Note:

My sister in law uses the same coriander – mint paste for making vegetable rice. The base recipe is same, the spinach and green gram are replaced with mixed vegetables. The vegetables are sauteed for a minute with the ground paste, then rice is added and cooked in a rice cooker till done.

Linked to:

• Anyone can cook
• Hearth and Soul Hop
• Healthy Cooking Challenge, this month’s theme – Lunch Box

Spinach Rice Casserole

The weekend is here, and there I was – browsing to my heart’s content, late into the night, happy about the fact that Bebo has no school tomorrow.

Little did I know what was in store for me this morning. The entire place shook for a minute! It took me sometime to understand that it was not an earthquake, just Bebo waking me up. God! Don’t kids get the idea of weekends? Of sleeping late? Of taking it easy? Apparently not. So long story short, me and Harry were awake at 6:15 this morning.

Bebo was bright and brisk and immediately got down to his business. Kiddo was playing happily after his morning breakfast. Me and Harry, bleary eyed, were looking at each other and sighing. The joy of parenthood is pretty dull early in the mornings :))! Still, can’t complain. Bebo wakes up on week days for our sake, so its only fair that Harry gives up his sleep for Bebo’s sake on weekends ;-).

Ingredients: 

Spinach : 500 gms (one big bunch)

Onion : 1 medium, chopped

Rice : 1 cup (cooked rice)

Butter : 1- 2 tbsp

All purpose flour : 1 tbsp

Milk : 1 cup

Egg : 1

Chilli flakes : 1 -2 tsp

Garlic : 2-3 pods, crushed

Bread crumbs : made from 2 slices of bread, about 3/4 cup

Salt, Pepper : to taste

Method: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease a rectangular baking dish.
2. Clean the spinach, cover and cook with a tablespoon of water for a few minutes till the spinach is wilted.
3. In a pan, combine the butter, flour and milk. Heat, stirring continuously to get a smooth, lump free sauce. Dilute with water or stock, if the sauce is too thick. Season with salt,pepper and chilli flakes.
4. Add the spinach, rice, chopped onion, garlic and the lightly beaten eggs to the sauce. Mix everything till combined.
5. Transfer to the baking dish, press lightly. Add the bread crumbs all over on the top.
6. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes till the top turns brown.

Note:

Next time, I will be sauteing the onion and garlic before using them.

You can top it with cheese, instead of bread crumbs. You can add more seasonings according to your taste.

Linked to Its a Keeper Thursdays, Friday Potluck, Dish it Out – Spinach & Garlic.

Popeye the Sailor Man

“I’m Popeye the Sailor Man, 
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man. 
I’m strong to the finich 
Cause I eats me spinach. 
I’m Popeye the Sailor Man.” 

This is the first thing that comes to me when I look at spinach.

I don’t make keerai as much as I would like to, as I hate cleaning it. The keerai/spinach bunch you get here is freshly picked and hence has the roots too. So unless you clean it thoroughly, you will end up eating ‘sand-y keerai’.

This time, my father cleaned and cut the leaves for me. I was planning to make a simple keerai thoran (dry curry with coconut). I started off confidently and soon after noticed that there is way too much water in it. In my hurry to cook , I had forgotten to let the leaves drain!! So instead of making a watery version of a dry curry, I switched modes and made Harry’s favorite puli keerai masial.

This puli keerai masial (spinach cooked with tamarind and mashed nicely) has been on Harry’s weekend menu for a long time. He hasn’t displayed any superhuman strength like Popeye yet,  but who knows – this weekend’s spinach dosage might just do the trick :-D!

Ingredients:

Keerai/Amaranth/Spinach : 1 bunch, cleaned and chopped

Tamarind : a small gooseberry sized, soaked in water

Asafoetida : a pinch

Salt : to taste

Oil : 1 tsp

Mustard seeds : 1 tsp

Urad dal : 1 tsp

Dried Red Chillies : 1 or 2

Optional (But I did it anyway):

Coconut : 1/4 – 1/2 cup

Jeera/Cumin seeds : 1/2 tsp

Green chillies : 1 or 2

Method: 

1. Extract juice from the soaked tamarind or use 1 tsp tamarind paste.
2. Cook the keerai in a heavy bottom kadai with 1/2 cup water, tamarind extract, salt and asafoetida.
3. Mash nicely with a ladle while it is cooking.
4. When the keerai is cooked and mashed nicely, keep aside.
5. Heat oil in a small pan. Add mustard seeds.
6. When it splutters, add urad dal.
7. Add to the keerai masial and serve.

Note:

You can grind coconut (1/4 – 1/2 cup),  jeera (1 tsp) and green chillies(1 or 2) and add this mixure to the masial while its cooking.

 Easier version:

1. Pressure cook the cleaned spinach with tamarind extract for 1 whistle and let it cool.
2. Blend in a mixer (I prefer food processor with chopping blade).
3. Heat oil in a pan. Add asafoetida and mustard seeds.
4. Add urad dal, after mustard splutters.
5. Add to the keerai masial and serve.