Methi Palak Matar Makhani

My husband and I are creatures of habit when it comes to eating out. Although we love experimenting with different cuisine, we have had a few bad experiences when trying out few restaurants for the first time. Some of these places had over the top ratings/reviews but we were quite disappointed either with the food, or the service or the ambiance. So, we are often cautious when choosing new restaurants. In the midst of this situation, time and again we find ourselves going back to a few of our favorite eateries where we know the food and service are consistently good.

So, among a long list of Indian restaurants in and around our neighborhood, there is just one place we love and regularly visit. They have a wide array of vegetarian dishes in a buffet style. There is one particular dish that caught our attention the first time we visited – ‘Methi Palak’. The curry looked bland and boring but the taste was quite rich and delicious. I’ve made something similar here with the addition of matar (green peas) and heavy cream.

Methi/Fenugreek has a subtle bitterness to it and when combined with Palak/Spinach that has a hint of sweetness perfectly complement each other. I prefer this curry in a coarser texture and hence I just pulsed the mixture a few times until I got the right consistency. To add some richness I added heavy cream and garnished it with lightly toasted cashews.

Savor this dish with chapathis/rotis and or rice.

Recipe

Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 30 mins

Ingredients

– 2 cups methi leaves (fenugreek)
– 2 cups palak (spinach)
– 1/2 cup matar (green peas)
– 1 small red onion
– 3/4th tsp cumin seeds
– 4 or 5 green chillies
– 3/4th tsp ginger-garlic paste
– 1/2 tsp turmeric
– 1/2 tsp garam masala
– salt to taste
– 1/4th cup heavy cream
– handful of cashews

Directions

1. Separate the methi leaves from the stalks. Wash methi and palak thoroughly to remove all the dirt. In a deep pot, bring enough water to a boil. Add both the greens and blanch for a couple of mins. Then, drain under cold running water to stop the cooking. Squeeze most of the water from them and set aside. Reserve some of this water to use later.
2. In a pan/skillet, heat a couple of tsps of oil. Add cumin seeds and saute for a min. Add finely chopped onions and slit green chillies. Saute for a few mins until the onions are pale brown.
3. Add ginger-garlic paste, turmeric, garam masala and salt. Saute for a couple of mins. Add methi and palak to the pan and mix well. Take this mixture in a blender, add a couple of tsps of the reserved water and pulse it a few times. If you prefer a smooth velvety gravy blend the mixture into a puree. But, I just pulsed it as I like this curry on a coarser side.
4. Remove the mixture, back into the pan. I used frozen peas. So, I thawed them in the microwave for a couple of mins and added them to the pan. If you are using fresh peas, make sure it is cooked to tender before adding to the pan. Adjust salt if needed and saute for about 8 to 10 mins. Add heavy cream and further saute for 2 to 3 mins.
5. Lightly saute cashews in another pan in a tsp of oil and add it to the curry for garnish.

Serve the curry warm alongside chapathis/rotis and/or rice.

Note:
– Separating methi leaves takes plenty of time. So, it’s always good to prep this part in your leisure time before getting to make the curry.