Magori Palak Ki Kadhi

Second week of blogging marathon # 7 starts from today. I have been participating in Srivalli's marathons for the last six sessions and I am guessing that by now, my regular readers must have become familiar with the concept of blogging marathon. For the uninitiated here we go. Each participant has to pick a theme among several given choices and cook seven different dishes during the week, adhering to the selected theme. Check what my fellow marathoners are cooking today.

I chose to go with "Cooking from Cookbooks" this week and the first recipe is going to be from Vidhu Mittal's "Pure and Simple". It is an Indian vegetarian cookbook that justifies it's title. An excellent one for both novice and experienced cooks with crisp illustrations and simple cooking methods. One of my recent favorite cookbooks, I would say.

The first thing I tried from this cookbook happens to be this magori - palak kadhi. I had prepared a batch of mangodis / mangoris / magoris last summer and was looking for ways to use them. My first trial nimona was a hit and so when I happened to see this kadhi recipe, I immediately gave it a try. The dried moongdal dumplings are cooked in spinach and slightly tangy yogurt base and as expected, it tasted wonderful. It is a great side dish for rotis.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup magoris

1 cup fresh / frozen chopped spinach

1 cup yogurt (sour one is best.)

2 Tbsp gram flour / besan

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

One inch piece of ginger

2 - 3 Green chillies (Serrano peppers)

Salt to taste

1/4 cup of oil to deep fry

For tadka/seasoning 1:

2 tsp of oil / ghee, 1 tsp cumin seeds and a pinch of asafoetida

For tadka / seasoning 2:

2 tsp oil / butter, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1/2 tsp chili powder and a pinch asofoetida

Method:

* Heat 1/4 cup oil in a small frying pan and deep fry mangoris in medium hot oil until light golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and drain them on absorbent towel. Crush them lightly and keep them aside.

* Grind ginger and chillies to paste adding little water if needed.

* Sieve the gram flour.

* Heat 2 tsp of oil in a small pressure cooker and add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Then add fried and crushed magori, spinach, turmeric powder and a little water to it and cook to 1 whistle.

* Whisk together yogurt, gram flour, ginger - chillie paste along with enough with water to make a pourng consistency.

* When the valve pressure is gone, remove the lid. Add the yogurt mixture, salt and water as needed. Reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. You have to keep stirring constantly until thick and creamy. Don't let the yogurt curdle. Simply whisk the sauce if it happens.

* Heat the other 2 tsp oil and add cumin seeds, chili powder and asafoetida. When cumin seeds start to turn brown, remove the tadka and pour over the kadhi.

Note:

Magoris / Mangodis are prepared by soaking and grinding moong dal. The ground dal is shaped into small dumplings and then dried in hot sun. The dried mangodis are then stored in airtight containers for later use.

Check here for a detailed recipe.

This goes to Sonu's "Flavors of Rajasthan", an event originally started by Nayna.

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