Palak Saag - Creamed Curry Spinach (Version 1)

And finally my first post with heavy cream in it! All the food I put up on my blog is stuff we eat at home everyday. Needless to say it is always healthy and often uses substitutes like milk for heavy cream or oil for butter, etc. Anyhow, I really wanted to make a rich palak saag today and had some heavy cream lying around. So here is the dish.

Method and Ingredients:

1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 green chilli
4 cloves of garlic
1 tsp ginger
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Pinch of clove powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon stick
1 roma tomato
2 tbsp crushed tomato
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp coriander powder
6 cups chopped spinach
1 tsp Garam masala
1 bay leaf
1/2 to 1 cup Heavy cream

1. Heat oil. Add cumin and mustard seeds. Let sputter. Add the chopped garlic, ginger, and green chilli and sautee a little.
2. Add 1 medium onion, chopped and cook till it becomes transclucent.
3. Add turmeric powder, clove powder, cinnamon stick and chopped tomato and mix well. Add 2 tbsp of crushed tomato. Add 1/4 cup water and cook on low heat for 5 minutes. You will have to add water one more time to allow the contents to turn to a thick paste. Total cooking time of about 8 to 10 minutes should do it.
4. Add the spinach and mix well. Let cook for another 5 minutes.  Add salt and garam masala.
5. Remove the spinach mixture and set aside to cool. Pulse in a food processor a few times. Spinach should be coarse for the saag.
6. Heat some oil.  Add a bay leaf.  Add some paprika powder and add the processed spinach right away.  Let cook on low heat for 5 to 8 minutes so that all the water from the spinach evaporates.
7. Add heavy cream a little by little at a time untl you get the desired creaminess level. Generally a color test should do the trick - you want a light green color to the saag. Stir constantly as you add the heavy cream.  It tends to leave some oil giving the dish a rich taste.
8. Remove from heat. Serve with Naan or Rice