Chicken Balti & Spinach Raita

The horror! The raita;)
Well I was having a friend over and she loves Indian food.  I wanted her to try a recipe I made on February 2nd (http://ormonddinners.blogspot.com/2012/02/best-ever-chicken-balti.html) because it was one of the tastiest things I have ever eaten.  But, as I want a new recipe every day, I went looking for a side dish to try.  I had plenty of Greek yogurt to use, so I decided on the spinach raita.  That was a mistake.  No one liked it at all.  I couldn't believe how much it disappointed considering that it was chuck full of spinach and garlic.  The only deviation I made was with the dried red chilli; I used red pepper flakes.  In addition we had some samosas and chickpea fritters and rice.  Anyone out there know why the raita was such a epic fail?  Got a better recipe?  Please let me know:).

Palak Ka Raita - Spinach Raita - Spinach In Yogurt
2 T  vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
1 bn spinach,washed and chopped fine (approximately 1
2    " piece of ginger grated
2    green chillies chopped very fine (optional)
1 c  fresh Unsweetened Yogurt whisked till Smooth
Salt to taste
2 T  vegetable/ canola/ sunflower cooking oil
1 t  cumin seeds
5 ea garlic chopped very fine
1    dry red chilli broken into small pieces
[Note. Serve it with your favorite daal and plain boiled or fragrant rice for a lovely vegetarian
meal! http://indianfood.about.com/od/sidesandsalads/r/palakraita.htm]
Heat the cooking oil in a pan on medium heat. Add the spinach, ginger
and green chillies to it and cook till the spinach is soft. Remove from
fire and allow to cool.
Put the spinach mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the yogurt and salt to
taste. Stir to blend all ingredients well. Keep aside for now.
Heat the remaining cooking oil in a small pan and when hot, add the
cumin seeds, chopped garlic and dry red chilli pieces. Fry till
spluttering stops and the spices are slightly darker.
When this happens, remove from heat and pour evenly over the yogurt
spinach mixture. Sir to blend and serve.

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