Palak Chutney(Spicy spinach chutney)

Palak Chutney(Spicy spinach chutney)

If ‘Green smoothies’ (with raw palak)or ‘Spinach juice’ isn’t your cup of tea, then you can try out this spicy palak chutney which is a great way of adding green leafy vegetables to your diet.

Spinach is loaded with nutrients like protein, fibre, vitamins ( A, C, E, K , as well as vitamins B2, B6 , folate) and minerals like manganese, magnesium, iron, copper, calcium and potassium.

The original recipe uses tendli/tondli(ivy gourd) leaves,but since that isn’t available everywhere, had to substitute with palak. The resulting Palak Chutney was quite close to the ‘tondekai/tondli chutney’ that I remember. Here are the ingredients for the Palak Chutney:

Ingredients for Palak Chutney:

• Palak(baby)/Baby spinach-2 cups chopped
• Garlic-5 cloves(crushed)
• Ginger-1″ piece
• Cilantro/coriander leaves-1 cup
• Green chillies-6-7nos(or according to taste)
• Roasted channa dal-2 tbsp
• Roasted groundnut-2tbsp
• Hung yogurt/curd-3tbsp
• Lemon Juice: 1 tbsp
• Salt-to taste
• Oil-1tsp

  Method:
  1)Heat the oil in a pan,add the garlic and green chillies and saute for a couple of minutes.
  2)Add the chopped baby spinach and saute till they are cooked.Let it cool.
  4)In a mixer grinder-add the channa dal,groundnuts,cilantro,ginger,salt and the cooked palak.
  5)Make a fine paste.
  6)Pour the palak chutney into a bowl. Add the lime juice, yogurt and mix well. Test for salt.

  Palak chutney tastes great even without the addition of the yogurt/curd at the end(add a little tamarind). I just love the creaminess that the yogurt adds to the palak chutney.
  Serve the palak chutney with idlis/dosas, as a spread for sandwiches,a dip or as a side with your meal.