Aloo Palak

5 from 5 votes

Aloo Palak AKA Indian Spinach Recipe AKA Sauteed Spinach is made with simple ingredients, comes together quickly (under 30 minutes)!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: People

Calories: 82kcal

Author: Neha

Equipment

1 Pan with a lid

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Cooking Oil (I use Avocado Oil)
¾ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
a pinch Asafoetida
4-5 large Garlic Cloves
½ of a large Onion
2 dried red chilies
¾ teaspoon Salt (or to taste)
½ cup Tomato Puree (made out of fresh tomato, I used one large tomato)
teaspoon Turmeric powder
teaspoon Coriander Powder
teaspoon Garam Masala powder
teaspoon Red Chili Powder
1 large Potato (200 gms, Diced into ½-¾ inch thick chunks)
8-10 oz Spinach Leaves (Finely Chopped)

Instructions

Add oil in a pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds once the oil is hot. Allow them to crackle and add a pinch of asafoetida. Add in chopped garlic and cook it till it gets golden brown color.
When garlic is sauteed, add in chopped onions and red chilies. You may slit red chilies if you'd like more heat from them, I didn't.
I like to add salt at this point. It helps onion release some of its natural moisture. That way you will need less oil to cook onions. Cook onions till they get a golden color on them and turn translucent.
Now pour tomato puree in the pan and cook it for a while (around 3-4 minutes) till tomatoes get cooked. The masala will thicken a bit at this point.
Add all the spices in- coriander powder, garam masala, red chili powder and turmeric powder. Give it all a quick mix.
Add diced potatoes and mix it all well. I added 1 large potato, diced to ½ inch chunks. Cover and cook for 6-8 minutes over medium heat or until the potatoes are almost cooked.
Uncover the lid in between 2-3 times and give potatoes a quick stir so that they don't stick to the pan. If needed you can splash some water around 1 tablespoon or two, to aid softening of potatoes.
Now add chopped spinach in 2-3 batches. Allow the spinach to wilt after each addition. Cook for 2-3 minutes more after all the spinach is in, over medium-high heat or until most of the moisture from spinach gets evaporated.
Serve with hot rotis squeezing fresh lemon juice over spinach. Enjoy!

Notes

Storing Instructions:

This Indian spinach dish is best enjoyed fresh. Any leftovers will keep well for 1-2 days in refrigerator. Keep it covered at all times.

Spinach: I use fresh spinach leaves to make this recipe. However, frozen spinach can also be used here. Just remember that using frozen spinach will increase the cooking time to a few more minutes.

Potatoes: If you like more potatoes than spinach in your dish, then increase the quantity of potatoes used in this recipe. If using more potatoes, add 2 tablespoons of oil instead of one. If needed sprinkle 2-3 tablespoons of water to aid the cooking of potatoes.

Tomatoes: You can even skip tomatoes out from this recipe if you prefer. Pro Tip: Serve spinach, sprinkled with lots of lemon juice if skipping tomatoes. I add the puree of fresh tomatoes, but canned would work just in a pinch. Even dices tomatoes or tomato chunks can be substituted for tomato puree.

Spices: You can adjust the quantity of spices as per your liking too. I have kept this dish mildly spiced so that the flavors of spinach, potatoes, garlic and tomato can shine through. If you like your spinach spicy 1-2 green chilies can be added when you add onions to the pan.

Nutrition