Wordl kuliner: Palak Rice/Pulao

Palak is one of my favourite green veggies and endorsed by Popeye- The Sailor Man. But apart from all that it has high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.

In case I am too lazy to make Palak Paratha or Aloo Palak or Dal Palak or plain Palak subji, I make Palak Rice. The main advantage is I need not make any side dish separately to go with this. What's more, if you have leftover rice, this is more easy to prepare. Read on further for the recipe:-

Basmati Rice - 1 cup

Spinach - 1 Bunch

Onion - 1 big sliced

Ginger- Garlic - 2tbsp. finely chopped

Green chillies - 2-3

Salt as per Taste

Sugar 2 tsp.

garam masala powder 1 tsp.

Whole Garam Masala

Cumin seeds

Oil/ Ghee- 1 1/2 tbsp. (I used ghee as it gives superb flavour)

1. Wash and soak rice for 30 mins. In a microwave bowl add the soaked rice and enough water to cook the rice, add salt and a tsp. of oil. Cook it for 8 mins on microwave high. Make sure that the rice does not become too soggy. Keep it aside.

2. Blanch spinach. Drain and blend into the blender along with 3 green chillies and a pinch of salt.

3. In a pan, heat up ghee/oil and add whole garam masala and cumin seeds; saute it for a minute.

4. Then add sliced onion and saute till translucent. Add ginger-garlic and again saute till the raw flavour of ginger- garlic goes away.

5. Now add 3/4 palak puree and saute for 2-3 mins. Now add rice, salt, sugar, garam masala powder at once and light mix everything without breaking the rice grain.

6. Now add the remaining palak puree and just toss everything together. Cover and cook for 2-3 mins and remove from gas. Serve hot.