Palak/Spinach Rice

Last time we had taken in laws to this fine restaurant - 1947, we had ordered this Spinach rice. Though it wasn’t quite dry, we did love it for its fabulous taste, with mild spices, and plenty of greens. Especially, FIL loved it a lot, but couldn’t have enough of it as he was already full. And he kept on praising it for some days.

And on a weekday morning, he had taken out a couple of bunches of palak from the fridge, and started picking it, by the time I woke up. Yes, he actually chooses the menu for the day and keeps the veggies ready, by the time I or MIL get into the kitchen to start cooking. That in fact, reduces a great deal of our work!

Coming back to my story about Palak rice, that morning, FIL wanted me to prepare it. Oops, I find it quite difficult to cope with sudden ideas of trying out a new dish, if I’m not prepared for it; especially on a weekday morning!! So I explained to him, saying I was not very sure about the recipe, though I could give it a try, and that I would look through a couple of recipes for Palak rice and come back and prepare it for dinner the same day. He too agreed.
In between work, that day I checked through some recipes, and found that every recipe was different from each other, and everything looked different and had different sets of ingredients. Hmm.... I thought, I should take points form at least a couple of recipes to suit the taste of my family.

I came back home and gave it a try, in my own way, of course adapting a couple of thing from a couple of places. And I should say the outcome was just awesome! It had a rich taste, and yet mild spices, and tasted great. It’s now a dish-in-demand at home :)

Palak Rice

Preparation time : 10 min Cooking time : 25 min, including cooking rice Serves : 4 Ingredients: For rice: Basmati rice - 2 cups Water - 2 cups Milk - 1 cup Cloves - 2-3 Bay leaves - 1 (optional) Cooking oil/ghee - 1 tsp Fresh spinach - 2-3 medium sized bunches Onion - 1 medium sized, chopped (optional) Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp Cumin seeds - 1 tsp Cinnamon - 4-5 small pcs Cloves - 4-5 Pepper - 8-10 (optional) Salt - ½ tsp or as per taste Green chilies - 4-5, vary depending on taste Ginger - ½” cube Fresh cream - 1 Tbsp Ghee - 1-2 tsp Cashews - 10-12, made into pieces Method: • Wash and soak rice for 10 minutes • Cook in a pressure cooker with water and milk, with the spices cloves and bay leaf for a nice aroma and oil/ghee added to make the rice grains non sticky • After rice is cooked, allow to cool slightly, ensuring that the grains do not get sticky • Meanwhile, pick and wash the spinach leaves and let the water drain completely • Chop into very fine pieces. Alternatively, a part of the spinach can be processed in a food processor or mixer, to get a coarse paste. Green chilies can also be combined while grinding • In a cooking pan, heat oil, add cumin seeds, pepper, cloves, cinnamon and allow to splutter • Add grated ginger and slit green chilies, if not ground to paste already • Add finely chopped onion and sauté till translucent • Once onions are done, add the spinach - chopped and the coarsely ground paste • Sauté well till the raw smell disappears and the color changes o a darker green. This might take 5 to 10 minutes depending on the pan used and the heat of the stove • Add salt and mix well. Note that spinach as such is slightly salty and requires a lesser amount of salt • Once done, mix in the rice, and add fresh thick cream • Mix thoroughly and heat for a few more minutes, letting the water content to go • Serve hot, optionally with a raita of your choice Tips n Tricks: • Ensure the raw small of spinach is gone, by sautéing well. • Be sure to drain the spinach well after washing it, as it already has a high water content Variations: • Potatoes can be boiled, mashed and added • Grated cheese can be added in place of fresh cream