Palak Chicken | Spinach Chicken is a chicken preparation made with Spinach puree and Indian Spices . It is a hearty, healthy and outrageously delicious dish with goodness of spinach .
Like most of the chicken dishes ,this too is an onion tomato base gravy with extra addition of spinach puree. The earthy flavours of spinach along with chicken and spices makes it more delicious.
Pairing Chicken : It's a known fact that chicken is a complete protein . But chicken lacks fiber , so it's always a good idea to eat lots of salad while having any non vegetarian food. To improve the nutritional values, its important to pair meat with veggies. Hence meat is always paired with veggies either in salad or sauteed form in most of the countries. Cooking meat in greens improves its fibrous portion making it more nutritious.
Variations to the Dish : To give a rich taste and nutty flavour , cashew paste can be used . Also cream can be added to make it more rich and also to give that restaurant finish. But here I have used curds to keep the calories in check . Also I have used both oil and clarified butter to cook . For more delicious and rich taste , you can use only desi ghee / clarified butter. Mutton can also be cooked similarly , but cooktime varies. With these minute changes , there will be slight change in taste but everything tastes good.
Other similar chicken recipes on blog are : Chicken Sukka , Chicken Bhuna Masala ,Coriander Chicken gravy , Pepper Chicken and Chicken Ghee roast.
How to make Palak Chicken :
Preparations:
Clean and wash Palak/spinach leaves and set aside.
Bring water to rolling boiling and add palak and green chillies . Turn off the heat. Let it sit for a 5 minutes.
With the help of tongs remove spinach , green chillies and into cold water ,allow it for 5 minutes.Drain water and keep spinach leaves aside.
Add spinach and green chillies into a blender / mixer and make puree .Set aside.
Take 2 medium size onions,cut it quarterly, add into blender/mixer and make fine paste without adding water, to get half cup onion paste.
Make ginger garlic paste from from 6-8 garlic cloves and 1 ½ inch ginger, keep it aside.
Blend 2-3 large tomatoes in a blender/mixer to get 1 cup tomato puree.
Keep all the whole spices ,ready.
For Making Gravy:
Heat oil and ghee in a kadai , add all the whole spices and saute till spices leaves aroma.
Add prepared onion paste and fry well for 5 minutes on medium heat .
Now add in ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off , let the onion ginger garlic paste turn light brown.
Add chicken pieces and mix well with onion,ginger garlic paste and cook for 5 minutes.
Now add turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon salt ,mix well everything.
Close the kadai/pan ,with a lid and cook chicken till raw smell goes off and its water dries up.
Now add tomato puree, mix well everything .
Add chilli powder , coriander powder , jeera powder and garam masala , mix well everything.Let this be cooking on medium heat.
Add ½ cup whisked curds and mix well everything. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes such that everything gets well incorporated .
Add spinach puree , blender rinsed water about ½ cup ,stir in everything.
Once spinach puree is well mixed with chicken ,add in ½- ¾ teaspoon of salt .
Cover and cook till it starts to bubble.
Open the lid , turn off the heat , add lemon juice from half lemon. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve it hot along with Steamed Rice or Roti.
Recipe
Palak Chicken | Spinach Chicken Curry
Ingredients
- 750 grams Chicken ,skinless
- 500 grams Palak / Spinach ,about 2 cups puree
- 3-4 no's Green Chilli ,mild spice
- 2 no's Onions, medium size
- 6-8 no Garlic Cloves
- 1 ½ inch Ginger
- 3 no's Tomatoes Large
- 1.5 tablespoon Cooking Oil
- 1.5 tablespoon Ghee / Clarified Butter
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 1 Tsp` Chilli Powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander Powder
- ½ Tsp Garam Masala
- ½ teaspoon Jeera / Cumins Seeds
- ¼ cup Yoghurt/Curds or cashew paste
- ½ cup Water
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt or as required
- 1 tablespoon Lime juice
- 2 tablespoon Chopped Coriander seeds
Whole Spices
- 2 no Bay leaf
- ½ teaspoon BlackPeppercorns
- 2 inch Cinnamon Stick
- 5 no Cloves
- 4-5 no Green Cardamoms
- 1-2 no Black Cardamom
- 2 Mace strands
Instructions
Preparations:
- Clean wash and keep chicken aside in a colander for excess water to drip off.
- Clean and wash Palak/spinach leaves and set aside.
- Bring water to rolling boiling and add palak and green chillies . Turn off the heat. Let it sit for a 5 minutes.
- With the help of tongs remove spinach , green chillies and into cold water ,allow it for 5 minutes.Drain water and keep spinach leaves aside.
- Add spinach and green chillies into a blender / mixer and make puree to get about 2 cups and set aside.
- Take 2 big onions,cut it quarterly, add into blender/mixer and make fine paste without adding water.
- Make ginger garlic paste from from 6-8 garlic cloves and 1 ½ inch ginger, keep it aside.
- Blend 2 large tomatoes in a blender/mixer to get 1 cup puree.
For Making Gravy:
- Heat oil and ghee in a kadai , add all the whole spices and saute till spices leaves aroma in oil.
- Add prepared onion paste and fry well for 5 minutes on medium heat .
- Now add in ginger garlic paste and fry till raw smell goes off , let the onion ginger garlic paste turn light brown.
- Add chicken pieces and mix well with onion,ginger garlic paste and cook for 5 minutes.
- Now add turmeric powder and ½ teaspoon salt ,mix well everything.
- Close the kadai/pan ,with a lid and cook chicken till raw smell goes off and its water dries up.
- Now add tomato puree, mix well everything .
- Add chilli powder , coriander powder , jeera powder and garam masala , mix well everything.Let this be cooking on medium heat.
- Add ¼ cup whisked curds and mix well everything. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes such that everything gets well incorporated .
- Add spinach puree , blender rinsed water about ¾ cup ,stir in everything.
- Once spinach puree is well mixed with chicken ,add in ½- ¾ teaspoon of salt .
- Cover and cook till it starts to bubble.
- Open the lid , turn off the heat , add lemon juice from half lemon. Garnish with coriander leaves.
- Serve it hot along with Steamed Rice or Roti.
Notes
- You can add either curds or add cashew paste made from 10 soaked cashews
- Can exclude adding water and make a semi coated thick chicken gravy.
Cheryl Victor says
Tried it today, absolutely excellent. Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Muktha says
Wow , I'm glad to know that you loved eat . Thanks a ton , keep visiting for more recipes. I recently had shared a recipe on Pepper Chicken with curry leaves , do check that you may love it . Thank You.