Layered Spinach Chicken Rice

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white rice
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2.5 cup frozen spinach
1 chicken breast, cut in chunks
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp each of turmeric, cumin, coriander, and red chilli powder
Pinch of clove and cinnamon powder
2 or 3 tsps of Kitchen King Masala (Readymade masala powder)
Heavy cream (Optional)

Marinate:
1 tsp ginger paste
1 tsp garlic paste
Generous dash of paprika
Salt and black pepper to season the chicken
Dash of meat tenderizer

Begin my marinating the chicken for atleast 1 hour.  Wash, pat dry and chop the chicken in big chunks.  Add some olive oil, followed by all the above marinate ingredients.  Set aside in a fridge until ready to cook. Meat tenderizers have salt in them so be careful not to over season the chicken. Paprika is a kind of a red chilli powder that is not as spicy and gives a nice smoked flavor to the chicken. If you do not have paprika, omit this step.

1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onions. Sautee until translucent. Add garlic and ginger paste and mix well. Add tomato sauce and stir.  Cook covered for 5 minutes on medium heat.
2. Meanwhile, zap the spinach in a microwave safe bowl (if using frozen spinach) for about 5 to 8 minutes in some water.  Reserve the water. 
3. Add the spinach to the pan.  Add some of the reserved water (1/4 cup). Mix well. Add the turmeric powder, red chilli powder, cumin and coriander powder, clove powder, cinnamon powder, and salt.  Mix well, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Check if it needs water to prevent from burning. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved liquid, cover and cook on medium high for another 5 to 8 minutes.  The spinach should by wilted by now.  If not, cover and cook on medium high for another 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. When cooled, pulse the mixture in a food processor. You want th mixture to be coarse not liquid. So only 3 to 4 quick pulses will do the trick.
4. Heat some oil in the same pan. Add the marinated chicken to pan and cook on med to high heat for 2 minutes. Flip the pieces and cook for another 2 minutes. Add the spinach mixture to the pan and mix well. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes on low heat. Adjust for seasonings, check if the meat is cooked.  Add some fresh heavy cream on the top if desired. I did not add on mine as we are all too calorie conscious around the house!

Layering the rice:

This is just a method of serving I chose to do. You can omit this step and serve the curry with rice on the side.

1. Cook the rice as per packet instructions.  Let the rice cool so that it does not get sticky.  You can layer the whole rice with the whole curry or do individual plating as shown.  To layer it as shown, start with rice at the bottom of a small pyrex bowl.  Pack the rice, layer the spinach chicken curry, pack rice again and top it off with some more curry. Press down gently with a masher to pack it in well. Put the serving plate you are going to use on the top and flip the plate while gently removing the pyrex glass or any other container you have chosen to use.  Garnish with shaved cucumber, carrot pieces, and some paprika powder on the top.