Paalakchi Patal Bhaji is a high protein Maharashtrian style spinach curry . The curry is super delicious with peanuts , coconut , yogurt and gram flour .
Paalakchi Patal means Spinach leaves and Bhaji means curry . I made this super delicious curry for the Protein Rich Maharashtrian spread . I had carefully selected a complete array of Maharashtrian dishes which were high in Protein .
Spinach is a super good food and It is one green that I eat but with lot of hesitation . My family laughs at me because I get spinach regularly and when it comes to cooking I always cook something interesting along with it . As a result spinach remains a side and is overpowered by another dish . When cooking for the Protein Rich Thalis I included spinach in all the thalis and enjoyed it too . Perhaps a new recipe is what gives me the push .
Coming back to Paalakchi Patal Bhaji , it has a unique flavor . The gram flour and yogurt are blended and this gives it a very nice texture and flavour . The soaked gram and peanuts taste heavenly , to tell the truth I was digging for these two when I made this curry . If you wish you could increase the proportion of these . This curry can be served with rice or chapati but I prefer it with hot chapatis .
This is my Day 3 post under One Vegetable Three Ways . The previous two days I posted –
Paalak Paneer Bhurji
Paalak ka Saag , Bihari Style
Palakchi Patal Bhaji
Ingredients
1 tbsp Bengal gram
2 tbsp peanuts
250 gms spinach
1 tbsp gram flour
1 cup yogurt
11/2 tbsp ghee / oil
11/2 medium onions, minced
1 tbsp dried coconut
Salt to taste
Seasoning
11/2 tbsp oil / ghee
3/4 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ginger , grated
2-3 green chillies
4 cloves garlic
Method
Soak gram and peanuts for 30 minutes.
Cook gram and peanuts in their soaking water for 3-5 minutes . Drain and set aside .
Clean spinach , wash and chop fine .
Blanch in 500 ml boiling water for 2-3 minutes . Drain and set aside .
Mix gram and yogurt in a bowl till smooth .
Heat 11/2 tbsp of fat and sauté the onions over low heat for 4-5 minutes .
Add spinach , gram and peanuts . Sauté for 4-5 minutes .
Stir in the gram yogurt mix , increase the flame to medium and bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes .
Mix in salt and add coconut .
Reduce the flame and simmer for 3-4 minutes .
Heat ghee / oil in another pan for seasoning .
Add mustard seeds, let them pop .
Stir in turmeric, ginger , green chillies and garlic .
Cook till golden.
Pour the seasoning over the spinach, stir once and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes .
Serve hot with rice or chapati .
Some more Spinach Dishes
Palakchi Patal Bhaji
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Bengal gram
- 2 tbsp peanuts
- 250 gms spinach
- 1 gram tbspflour
- 1 cup yogurt
- 11/2 tbsp ghee / oil
- 11/2 medium onions minced
- 1 tbsp dried coconut
- Salt to taste
Seasoning
- 11/2 tbsp oil / ghee
- 3/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ginger grated
- 2-3 green chillies
- 4 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Soak gram and peanuts for 30 minutes.
- Cook gram and peanuts in their soaking water for 3-5 minutes . Drain and set aside .
- Clean spinach , wash and chop fine .
- Blanch in 500 ml boiling water for 2-3 minutes . Drain and set aside .
- Mix gram and yogurt in a bowl till smooth .
- Heat 11/2 tbsp of fat and sauté the onions over low heat for 4-5 minutes .
- Add spinach , gram and peanuts . Sauté for 4-5 minutes .
- Stir in the gram yogurt mix , increase the flame to medium and bring to a boil and cook for 3-4 minutes .
- Mix in salt and add coconut .
- Reduce the flame and simmer for 3-4 minutes .
- Heat ghee / oil in another pan for seasoning .
- Add mustard seeds, let them pop .
- Stir in turmeric, ginger , green chillies and garlic .
- Cook till golden.
- Pour the seasoning over the spinach, stir once and cover the pan for 2-3 minutes .
- Serve hot with rice or chapati .
Notes
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#88
I never liked Palak in gravy form..but this bowl of yours is so tempting…a must try…
I looked at this curry when I made maharashtrian thali sometime back. You are tempting me to try it. Palakchi bhaji looks delicious !!
So many flavors in that small bowl of goodness! Never knew spinach could be whipped up so many amazing ways…
Talk about sinful thalis and elaborate thalis, your place is the final landing place!..I love this thali too and this one sounds awesome Vaishali..I enjoyed all the palak dishes you shared!
A very traditional Maharashtrian recipe. Goes very well with your thali.
Usually i add cooked dal into the spinach to make curry, but using gram flour and yogurt mixture for curry is interesting and also love the addition of peanut and bengal gram. Sounds delicious.
Vaishali I seriously need to learn from you how to organize the whole thali fare. I know when I was younger my mother in law and I would cook up Gujarati lunches and dinners with so many different components. At that time it seemed so easy.
I love the bhaji you’ve made, something so different for me. Bookmarked it.
Would love to have this dish without any fuss, how wonderful its looks with so many flavors. An irresistible dish definitely.
Wow! This looks so tempting, Vaishali. I can understand why you would want to dig for peanuts and chana in the sabji. I would do the same 🙂
That looks so tempting Vaishali. I have a bunch of spinach and I am so confused which of your three recipes to try out today…each one is fabulous and out of this world. Amazing spinach series!!!
The recipe is quite unique. The bengal gram and peanuts will give it the nutty texture and the yogurt and besan will give the creaminess. The spinach must be really flavourful with all these and that one is an awesome thali Vaishali. It looks divine..
That is a very interesting way to cook with spinach. I would love to try it out some time. Do you think the curry can be made without the yogurt? My husband’s not a big fan of yogurt.
a very new way of making spinach for me! definitely a must try……….love the thaali……… ur family must really enjoy ur thaalis 🙂
Traditionally Maharashtra! Looks yum
I love spinach in all its forms – this looks delicious
Such an interesting curry made with spinach and yogurt. This looks like a perfect dish to try from the Maharashtrian cuisine.
I love the way of searching traditional recipes and presenting for blog.