Aloo palak recipe – Aloo palak sabzi is one of the common curry made often in different parts of India. It contains spinach and potato in a thick curry sauce based on pureed spinach. The spinach puree is the key part of any palak based sabzi. The procedure of making palak gravy is same and the same gravy can be used in preparation of number of curries like Palak paneer, Palak corn sabzi etc.
All green leafy vegetables are good for health especially Palak which has high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants. Also it is rich source of vitamin A, C, E and K. It is good for your skin and for your tummy 🙂
In North India, palak and other leafy plants are used to prepare curries that are known as Saag. Saag is a leaf-based dish that is mainly prepared from spinach (palak), mustard leaves (sarson), finely chopped broccoli or other greens and spices. Sarson da saag (curry made from mustard leaves) is more common in Hariyana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Coming back to our Aloo Palak Sabzi, the spinach puree that we prepared hardly take time to prepare. But once prepared can be used to make aloo palak or palak paneer. For this aloo palak curry, I haven’t used garam masala. But instead of that I have added whole spices.
There is one small twist in this curry. Normally in spinach puree, fresh cream is added to give that creamy texture. However I have added cashew nuts instead. Cream adds mild sweetness to the curry but the cashew nuts were just fine for that.
I have served aloo palak sabzi with garlic naan. You can serve this curry with roti, phulka, chappati or naan. So lets jump to the recipe and see how to prepare Aloo palak ki sabzi.
- Palak (Spinach): 4 cups (150 grams)
- Potato: 1/2 cup, diced
- Tomato: 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
- Onion: 1/2 cup, roughly chopped
- Garlic: 1 tbsp, chopped
- Cinnamon (dalchini): 1/2 inch
- Cloves (laung): 2 piece
- Peppercorns (kali mirch): 4 piece
- Cashew nuts (kaju): 1 1/2 tbsp
- Green chili: 1 piece
- Oil: 2 tbsp
- Mustard seeds: 1 tsp
- Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
- Asafoetida (hing): 1/4 tsp
- Salt: to taste
- Take a vessel and add water in it when the water boils add the palak leaves to it and let it boil for 2-3 min (this method is known as blanching). As soon as the palak is blanched, you can put it in cold icy water to retain its green color.
- In a blender add tomato, onion, garlic, clove (laung), peppercorn (kali mirch), cinnamon (dalchini), cashew nut and green chill then blend it into a fine paste.
- Now cut the potato into pieces (batons). In the pan put oil and shallow fry till the potatoes are cooked.
- Heat the oil in the pan and add mustard seeds let it crackle then add asafoetida (hing), the paste of palak and turmeric, salt and stir it. Cook for about 5-10 minutes till the gravy is cooked properly.
- Once the gravy is cooked add the potato and stir it. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Aloo palak sabzi is ready to serve.