Microwave Palak Paneer

There was a time when my daughter was very fascinated by colours - she still is - but back then, she was just understanding the colours and learning to identify them and so she would talk about colours all the time.

So, I thought it would be a great idea to induce her to eat different (healthy) food types by talking about food in terms of colour.

So there was white mummum (mummum is food BTW, for her) = curd rice, and orange mummum = khichdi, or yellow mummum = egg curry and so on. I even managed pink mummum = pureed beetroot with yoghurt. What had me and still has me stumped was the day she asked for faint blue mummum!

Faint blue mummum.....any suggestions?

Green mummum = palak paneer is something that she loves, here's my version of it.

Microwave Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

Spinach - 2 cups, loosely packed (leaves only)

Onion - 1 medium, chopped

Tomatoes - 1 medium, chopped

Garlic - 3 cloves, chopped

Green chilli* - 1

Cumin seeds - 1 1/2 tsp

Turmeric - a pinch

Red chilli powder* - to taste

Salt - to taste

Sugar - 1/2 tsp

*when I make this for my daughter, I completely omit the green chilli and the red chilli powder

Method:

Discard the stalks of the spinach, retaining only the leaves.
(Dont throw away the stalks though - I normally boil them in some water and use the resulting broth to knead dough to make rotis)

Clean the leaves by washing them under running water.

(This is extremely critical when cooking with greens)

Then, add half a cup of water and blanch the spinach in the microwave - this should take about 3 mins, depending on the power of your microwave. Set aside to cool.

Next, in microwave proof bowl, add oil and heat it for a minute. Add cumin seeds and garlic and microwave for a minute and half.

Then add the onions (and green chilli) and cook for 2 mins, stirring once in between. Put the tomatoes and cook for 4 minutes, stirring twice in between. Blend this together with the blanched spinach leaves to a smooth puree.

Add the paneer, the dry masalas and the seasoning, microwave for another 5 mins, stirring twice in between and serve hot with jeera rice/rotis.

This is my entry to CFK:Greens hosted by Pavani, event started by Sharmi