Spinachy Chickeny Awesomeness.

March 10, 2012

Whoever said that the healthier you eat, the yuckier it tastes was wrong. This Palak Chicken would definitely change your notion too. It gives a tough fight to the most popular recipe of my blog, The Will-You-Marry-Me? Butter Chicken.

Spinach Chicken/Palak Chicken
Serves 4
Recipe: Self
Time : an hour.

Ingredients:

1 bunch (4 cups with stalks) of Spinach leaves,
1 large Onion, chopped.
2 medium Tomatoes, diced.
10 cloves of Garlic.
An inch of Ginger, peeled.
2 Green Chilies.
500 gms Chicken (I used 500gm coz I wanted a lot of gravy, but feel free to use 1kg safely for the recipe).
1 tbsp Cumin Powder.
3 tbsp Coriander Powder.
1 tbsp Garam Masala Powder.
1 tbsp Pepper Powder/Freshly ground Pepper.
1 tbsp Turmeric Powder.
1 tbsp Butter (Optional)
5 tbsp Oil
Salt, to taste.
Ginger-Garlic paste for marinating the chicken (Optional).

Method:

Marinate the Chicken with some Ginger Garlic paste and some Salt. Set aside.

Wash the Spinach Leaves thoroughly.

Blanch these babies in gently boiling salted water for 3 minutes.

Drain them (save some water from blanching) and run under cold water. Alternatively you can soak them into iced water too.

Grind these into a fine paste, use the residual blanching water as required. Set aside.

Now, get the Onion ready.

And the Tomatoes+Green Chilies+ Ginger+Garlic. Grind these into a fine paste in your grinder. Not the Onion.

Heat up the Oil in a deep pan and fry the Onions.

Let them turn a hint of brown and then add the Tomato+Garlic+Ginger+Chili paste.

Fry this really well till you see some oil being let out from the mixture. Time to add the Masalas.

Mix them really well, do not be afraid to use some water if the mixture sticks to the bottom of the pan. Let all the aromas fill your kitchen 🙂

Cook for 5 minutes.

Now add in the Spinach Purée. Cook for a further 10 minutes.

And a knob of butter if you like! I used homemade butter. Unsalted.

Add Salt to taste, followed by the Chicken. You must remember that Chicken will release it’s water while cooking, so don’t add any water to adjust the consistency. You can add it if needed once the Chicken is cooked.