Indian Slow Cooked Spinach (Palang ka Kapha)

If you are looking for new ways to incorporate spinach into your life, this Indian Slow Cooked Spinach would be a perfect one!

– 12 oz of fresh spinach (if you're using leaf spinach, chopped; baby spinach is fine the way it is) – 1 tsp of neutral oil (canola, vegetable, grapeseed) – 1 tsp of curry powder – 1/2 of a yellow onion, sliced thin – 1 Tbsp of finely minced ginger – 1 jalapeño, quartered, with seeds and ribs removed – 1 15-oz can of garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained (optional) – 1 Tbsp of rice flour (all-purpose flour is an okay substitute) – 1 tsp of neutral oil  – 3 cloves of garlic, minced – 1 small dried red chile – Kosher salt

Ingredients

In a Dutch oven or large skillet, bring 1/3 cup of water to a boil over high heat. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, massively reduced in bulk, and just cooked through, around 2 minutes. Remove from heat, drain in a colander or strainer, and leave it in the colander to keep on draining while you continue.

Wipe out the pan or pot you used to cook the spinach and return to the stove over medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon of oil, and when the oil's hot, add the curry powder. Stir-fry the curry powder until fragrant, around 30 seconds. (Be careful, here - it's ridiculously easy to burn the curry powder if you're not paying attention.) Add the onions and a pinch of salt and stir-fry for around 2 minutes, until translucent. Add the ginger and cook for another minute.

Add the spinach and jalapeño (and chickpeas if you want to make this a more substantial main-course-type dish) to the onions and stir to combine. Pour in 1 cup of hot water and mix well. Slowly add the rice flour, stirring constantly to prevent any lumps from forming, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low (a very low simmer) and cook for 20 minutes. Add salt to taste, and transfer to a serving dish.

Right before serving, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and dried red chile and stir-fry until the garlic is golden, around 1 minute. Pour over the spinach and serve over steamed rice (basmati if you have it), or on its own.

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