Palak Makhana

Or Popped Lotus seeds in a spicy spinach gravy!

Makhana or popped lotus seeds have intrigued me for a long time. I tried making a gravy with this once before but it didn’t work well, and that was the end of the Makhana story in my kitchen.

Till this evening.

I was wondering at work with a couple of friends on what I could cook with spinach leaves. Dal was the first thing that was mentioned. But since I didn’t want to cook Dal [we had our lentil quota for the day with the lunch!], a friend suggested I try the spinach gravy. And then I could take it up from there. And that’s exactly what I did.

I decided to give makhana another try, and that’s how this recipe came about.

Palak Makhana – Lotus seeds in a spicy Spinach gravy
Serves – 4
Preparation + Cooking time – 45 min
Level – Moderate

Ingredients
Spinach leaves – 2 bunches, washed
Popped Lotus seeds – 1 C
Onion – 1, medium sized
Garlic cloves – 6
Ginger – an inch sized piece
Green chillies – 2
Tomato – 1 , medium sized, chopped fine
Garam Masala powder – 1 Tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 Tsp
Chilli powder – 1/2 Tsp
Dry Mango powder – 1 Tsp
Sugar – 1/2 Tsp
Salt – To Taste
Mustard oil – 1 + 1 Tbsp

Method
Heat a pan, and add the oil, and roast the lotus seeds. The seeds take up all the oil in the pan, and take about 5-6 min on a medium flame to be roasted. Keep aside to cool.

In another vessel , heat some water and add some sugar. Now add the washed spinach leaves and close the lid. Sugar will ensure that the colour of the leaves is retained. Let the leaves be steamed/cooked in the water for about 10 min. Cool this and grind in a mixer grinder to make a coarse paste.

Prepare the raw masala by grinding the onion, garlic, green chilli and the ginger pieces together.

Heat some oil in a pan, and sauté the onion paste for a couple of min on a medium flame. Add the masala powders one by one to the onion paste and sauté for a couple of min more. Add the tomato pieces and cook this for another 5 min. Now add the spinach paste and cook the gravy for another 5 min on a medium flame.

Once the gravy is cooked, transfer to a serving bowl and add the roasted lotus seeds to this just before serving.

Pair this up with rotis or any variety of coloured rice.