Palak Chutney(Spicy spinach chutney)
Category:Indian Dietitian Online,Online Dietician IndiaIf ‘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.