Some foods stay etched in your memory forever and my “Palak Kadhi” is one such dish for me. I was never a great cook and when I finally decided to get married my mother got extremely worried like most Indian mothers about my inability to cook well. My would be Mother in law was an accomplished cook and runs her own catering business from home.
This was a very daunting proposition for my mom especially because I returned from UK a month before my wedding and I had no real experience cooking proper meals. So like any well meaning mother she brought me a whole set of Sanjeev Kapoor cookbooks to practice and use as guides when I cook.
Sanjeev Kapoor is the undisputed kitchen king of India. I don’t think that there is any house wife in India who has not tried his recipes. His show “Khana Khazana” was one of our favourite shows that we watched regularly every Sunday as a family. So it was inevitable that my mom gave me his cook books.
So till I got married my job was to test and try the recipes in the cook book every day and one dish I regularly made was “Palak Kadhi”. It is a gorgeous silky smooth and tangy kadhi made with Yoghurt and Spinach. It goes really well with plain boiled Rice or just on its own like Soup. Everytime I make this kadhi I am reminded of those days in my mother’s kitchen when she would stand behind me ensuring that I had mixed the Yoghurt and the Gram flour well, that I did not put too much water, that I had washed the Spinach well and I would get irritated by her constant questions.
I wonder what will my mother say when she sees me in my own kitchen cooking food without breaking into sweat.
Here is the recipe (Cooking time 30 minutes, Serves 4 – Recipe courtesy Sanjeev Kapoor)
2 cups Yoghurt/Curd (at room temperature)
4 Tbsp Gram flour
1 large Onion finely chopped
1 bunch of Spinach leaves
1 tsp Turmeric
1 tsp Red chilli Powder
1 tsp Sugar
Salt to taste
1 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Fenugreek seeds
2 green Chillies (finely chopped)
½ tsp Asafoetida
1 tsp Ginger paste
2 tsp Oil
In a bowl mix the Yoghurt and the Gram flour really well till there are no lumps. Add 3 cups of water and keep it aside while you prepare everything.
Wash the Spinach under running water and then chop it and put it aside. As we will not be blanching the Spinach before we add it in the kadhi, we will have to make sure it is clean and washed well.
In a deep bottomed pan add the oil. Once the Oil is hot add the cumin seeds and Fenugreek seeks. When they splutter add the Asafoetida and the Onions and sauté till the Onions are translucent.
Add the Ginger paste, Green Chillies, Turmeric powder, Red Chilli powder and the chopped Spinach and sauté for another 2 – 3 minutes.
Add the Yogurt and Gram flour mixture and let it come to a boil. Once it has boiled add the Sugar and Salt to taste and let it cook for around 15 minutes on a slow flame. Add more Sugar if needed to adjust the taste. I have done that a few times before if I find the kadhi to be too spicy.
This is such a healthy and simple dish to cook that you will find this to a part of your kitchen more often than not. I find this my ultimate comfort food. Even “D” loves it especially on long tiring days. Enjoy 
looks great! I love it with yogurt
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I still manage to mess up my kadi on some days…. have never tried palak kadi. Will try this!!
Thanks Veena.
Simran
I have always noticed that if I mix the gram flour well it results in better kadhis. Thank you for visiting. Let me know how you go.
This looks scrumptious. I am always on the look out for gluten free vegetarian deliciousnesses!
Thanks for visiting Chompchomp
Glad you like this dish. It has several variations and I will post them as we go 