Palak Rice / Spinach Rice

Palak Rice

When rice is in the menu for lunch , as far as possible I try to go for a one pot meal, for two reasons.....


You can guess the first one....And that is my laziness to make elaborate side dishes separately....And the second one is because of my son...He likes to take rice for his preschool and if it is a one pot meal , it is easy for him to have it with spoon....

Spinach Rice is one of my options for a healthy one pot meal with rice....With this recipe, it is easy for me to make all the nutrients in these rich green leaves go into my loved ones tummies even without their consent...Here is a link which gives an insight to the reasons why we should include this nutrient rich leaves in our daily diet....


Sometimes I add other veggies like carrot, green peas etc to this to make it even more tastier and healthier...But, today I had kept it simple and plain...

Here is the super easy recipe for a tasty n colorful lunch......

Ingredients

1. White Rice                             -  1 cup [I used Sona masuri.Basmati will be a better option]
2. Spinach                                  -  1 large bunch [ about 3 cups after chopping ]
3. Green chillie                          -  1 large
4. Ginger                                    -  1/2" piece
5. Mint leaves                           -  a handful [ optional , just to add some flavor ]
6. Onion                                     -  1 large
7. Water                                    -  1 1/2 cups
8. Ghee                                      -  1/2 Tbsp [ Oil also can be used instead ]
9. Bay leaves                             -  2 Nos
10. Cardamom pods                   -  3 Nos
11. Cinnamon                              -  1 small piece
12. Cloves                                    -   3 Nos
13. Whole black pepper             -  1 tsp
14. Salt                                         -  3/4 tsp

Preparation

1. Wash and soak the rice for 1/2 hr.
2. Blend together ingredients 2 to 6 adding 1/2 cup of water and make a smooth puree.
3. Heat a large pan or pressure cooker pan and add ghee / oil.
4. Once hot, add ingredients 9 to 13. Saute for a minute until a nice aroma of the spices start coming.
5. Add the puree from the mixer and keep stirring till the raw smell goes away. For about 10 to 12 mins.
6. Now add the drained rice to this and stir for another 5 mins.
7. Add the rest of the water and salt and cook until the rice is done. Adjust water as per the variety of rice and the amount of puree you could get from the spinach.
8. If you are comfortable with the quantity of water, you can use pressure cooker to do the rice cooking to make things easier.
9. Once cooked, simply serve and enjoy while it is hot along with some curd / yogurt and pickle.

Wasn't that quite an easy way to enjoy the goodness of these healthy green leaves ??

Note : The recipe serves 2 people

Do try out and Enjoy.....