Sunday, August 10, 2008

Bhaji- Spinach Indian Dish


This is one dish that doesn't photo very well. No matter what angle. I know it's not appealing looking, but it does taste good.

I love Spinach, it is one of my favorite vegetables to eat, this is a delicious Indian dish when I came across it, It's called Paji, basically just spinach fried with Indian spices. I don't cook Indian food that often because most of the dishes are fried. :) I learned Indian cooking because my husband is Indian. I know my mother in law has showed me to make this dish several times, but I'm not even sure If I make it the way she does. I might be using a recipe I found online. All you do is, dice a small onion, 1 tbsp of garlic and saute it. Once onions get soft you add 2 tablespoons of Coriander powder, 1/4 tsp of chili powder, a pinch of cumin seeds, 1/4 tsp turmeric pwdr, 1 tbsp of salt, (you will probably need more if using fresh spinach and not frozen) and 1/4 tsp of garam Masala. Fresh spinach tends to create lots of moisture in the pan which is good because you don't use that much oil but bad because it takes away from the salt. If you use frozen you use more oil and less salt. Once you stir fry the spices and let them darken just for a second or two, (don't burn the spices!) Than toss in 2 to 3 bundles of spinach and one diced boiled potato and let it shrivel up. I like to cut the spinach up with a spatula in the frying pan once it becomes soft. Once done, heat up some Wheat Flour Tortillas, ( they are better for you) and if you can pick yourself up a jar of Mango Chutney or some Thai sweet and chili sauce you just dip it in there with the tortilla and enjoy the combination of hot and sweet spices. This serves 3 people.

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