My Food Story: A gruel made of spinach and mother’s memories

Spinach ‘kadhi’ makes for a healthy and tasty dish
My Food Story: A gruel made of spinach and mother’s memories
Spinach.Photo: iStock
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This recipe is very close to my heart as my mother used to make it. Whenever I felt like eating something healthy and tasty at home, my mother used to make this curry.

I learnt this recipe from my mother, and I make it for my children. But there was something different about the way my mother cooked it. She is not with us. But we can never forget the taste of food cooked by her.

Spinach kadhi (Palak ki kadhi)

Ingredients

Chickpea flour (Besan)

Buttermilk (Chaach)

Spinach (Palak) leaves

Turmeric (Haldi)

Coriander (Dhaniya) powder

Salt

Asafoetida (Heeng)

Mustard oil

Boondi

Ginger

Garlic paste

Cumin

Red chilli

Clarified butter (Desi ghee)

Method

Wash and grind the spinach to a paste. Mix it with buttermilk/curd, half the chickpea flour, spices, and water to make a batter.

Heat mustard oil, add cumin, asafoetida and ginger-garlic. Then add the spinach mixture. Cook on high flame for five minutes, then on low for 15-20 minutes till thick. Make pakoras with the remaining besan, add them to the kadhi and let it simmer for two minutes. Finally, prepare a ghee tadka (seasoning) with cumin, red chilli, and asafoetida. Pour over kadhi and serve hot with chapati or rice.

My Food Story is a collection of stories and recipes that celebrate India’s traditional plant-based ingredients sourced from local biodiversity. You can see these recipes on our interactive dashboard (https://www.cseindia.org/page/myfoodstory).

Join us as we showcase the recipes shared with us by the participants of a recently concluded recipe contest.

Neeta Saxena is an Assistant Professor from Uttar Pradesh

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