Palak Murg | Chicken in Spinach Sauce

We are in the blessed month of Muharram. We had a public holiday over here on Sunday and it was quite relaxed. The summers are slowly taming down – I mentioned “slowly”, because sometimes they do act funny! – and it is indeed a relief. Moreover, schools are expected to open next week, starting with online classes. I simply can’t believe that two months of summer vacation got over just like that! At the beginning of last month, I was wondering how the girls are going to spend their time inside, with not much activity. Thankfully, they had madrassa classes and art classes online, which kept them busy. I am just thankful that it wasn’t as bad as expected. Just goes to tell, how much we think too much and spoil everything. Hehe… Over the weekend, the fasts of Muharram will be on. We can either fast 9 and 10, or 10 and 11, though the most important fast is on the tenth of the month. The Prophet (PBUH) has reportedly said, “The best fast after the month of Ramadan is in the month of Allah, Muharram” (Sahih Muslim). It is also reported, “Fasting on the day of Ashura (day 10) is an expatiation of (minor) sins of the preceding year.” (Sahih Muslim) May Allah make it easy for us to fast, accept it from us and forgive our sins… Aameen…

Here is the final recipe for the Blogging Marathon #115 theme of “Pick one vegetable, three dishes”, after the Palak Chapathi and creamy Palak Paneer. I hope you haven’t been getting irritated with too much green on the blog. 😉 You must understand green is good for health… hehe…

I cooked this Palak Murg when I had a small pack of cut chicken remaining and two bunches of spinach, which was threatening to die away. Usually, spinach doesn’t stay much in my pantry. I am always the one who adds it to my meals or we just make spinach dal for lunch to finish it off. But somehow, we forgot about the spinach and found it while trying to figure out what to make for dinner. I was just glad to have tried out this gravy. It was absolutely easy to cook and so delicious, that we hardly had anything left.

The chicken is briefly marinated in some basic spices while the spinach gets treated. The only chopping involved is for onions. Slightly browning the onion notches up the taste quite a bit, so please do make sure to do that before adding the chicken. The rest of the recipe is quite straightforward. The thickish curry is heavy on the flavor of clove and the kasuri methi. We enjoyed it with some store bought tandoori rotis, which go amazingly well with such gravies. If you love a greenish tint to your chicken curry, then this green chicken curry may be something you would love too… Off to this simple recipe…

Palak Murg | Chicken in Spinach Sauce

Course Main

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 2 -3

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 500 gm chicken with bone meduim peices
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp green chilli paste refer notes
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• Salt to taste
• 2 bunches spinach chopped
• 2 heaped tbsp yogurt
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 cloves
• 2 meduim onions minced
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp kasuri methi crushed

Instructions

• Wash and drain the chicken. Toss in the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, green chilli paste, ginger garlic paste and salt and set aside till ready to cook.
• In a saucepan, saute the spinach just till wilted. Take out. Allow to cool slightly and grind into a smooth paste with the yogurt. Set aside.
• Heat oil in the same saucepan. Splutter the cumin and briefly fry the cloves.
• Add the onions and saute till browned - let it brown a bit.
• Add the chicken along with the marinade. Add a little water and cook, tossing occasionally till almost cooked.
• Add the yogurt spinach paste and cook for another five minutes or till the chicken is fully done. Add the garam masala powder and kasuri methi, give it a final toss.
• Serve hot with rotis or rice.

Notes

I used the green chilli chutney paste. If you don't have it, simply mince a couple of green chillies and add.