A healthy rice variety.. Spinach Pulao!

Spinach, as all know, is a very nutritious veggie, high in iron and Vitamin A. So, I was looking at ways of making this more, other than the usual spinach side dish. I came across this variety rice, a combination of spinach and basmati rice. I tried to cook it in a dum style and surprisingly, that turned out quite good. For those who aren't so fond of the taste of spinach, cooking this way really does not give out its real taste. It rather tasted like a spicy biriyani. This goes very well with a raitha or gravies like aloo mattar, prawns/chicken gravy etc. Do give it a try.

Serves 8

Ingredients

Rice (Basmati or Sona masoori) - 6 cups
Spinach - 6 oz (176 gms)
Onion - 2 medium, finely chopped
Tomato  -2 medium, finely chopped
Potato - 2 medium, cut into square cubes
Ginger, finely chopped - 1 Tbsp
Garlic, finely chopped  - 1 Tbsp
Green chillies, finely chopped - 2 Tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 Tsp
Turmeric powder - 1 Tsp
Garam masala/Biriyani masala- 2 Tbsp
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 Tsp
Some bay leaves, 5 or 6 cloves and 4 or 5 cardomom seeds
Salt
Oil - 3 Tbsp

Steps

• Cook the rice, with some salt, bay leaves, cloves and cardomom until 90% done and set aside
• Blend the washed spinach into a paste (I try not to add water, if you really have to, add very little) 

A pic of the main ingredients, until now -

 

• In a saucepan, pour the 3 Tbsps of oil and fry the potatoes for about 5-8 minutes until tender
• Remove (after squeezing out oil) and set aside on a tissue paper
• In same oil, pop in the cumin seeds and chopped onions. Fry till they caramelize
• Add the ginger, garlic and green chillies, let stand on medium heat for about 2 mnts
• Now add the chopped tomato and season with all the ground spices (including salt). Stir fry and let cook for about 2 minutes
• Now add the spinach paste and stir. Let cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes till the raw smell goes.   
• In the same vessel in which rice was cooked, add about 1 tbsp of ghee
• Add a layer of spinach masala, then half the rice, then the rest of the spinach and finally the remaining rice. Finally add the fried potatoes on top with some coriander leaves. 
• Cover and simmer-cook for about 10 minutes