Palak Chicken ( Chicken cooked with Spinach)

I think Spinach and Popeye go hand in hand for every child. The child in me still associates Palak

 ( Indian spinach) with iron and therefore at every best opportunity I incorporate it into my dishes.Palak has a muddy flavour which many dislike but to me my fondness for Popeye helps me surpass all those grimaces I get at home when I put palak onto the table.Recently I heard from my friends  who hail from North Eastern part of India that they added some green leaf in certain non vegetarian dishes of theirs and loved it absolutely. Where I come from, in Kerala leafy vegetables are often prepared with coconut grated or in a simpler form like a stir fry. Seldom do Green leaves enter the simmering pots of meat. But having grown up exposed to Non Keralite dishes, especially with Pakistani and North Indian friends at school and mom's work place, this is something my mom picked up. Though spinach oftenw as prepared with mutton, I modified the recipe for chicken. My hubby has issues with mutton and therefore I don't cook mutton, but chicken is often cooked at home so in the pursuit of wanting to deliver something different , I whipped this up last time I was home. I had some left over carrots and green beans lying around which was not sufficient enough for any dish in particular, I tossed them into this curry but this is not required. So for those of you in the colder parts of the world this is a treat in winters. If you substitute the chicken with mutton or beef it is heavenly but chicken is a fine option too. Hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as I do.

Ingredients for Palak Chicken

Chicken- 250 gm
Palak- 3 bunches
Onion- 2 large sliced thinly
Tomatoes- 3 large ones finely chopped
Ginger- 1 inch long piece minced
Garlic- 5-8 pods minced
Green chillies slit- 5
Cilantro- 1 sprig
Oil ( I used mustard oil)
Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
Chilli powder- 2 tsp
Kashmiri chilli powder- 2tsp
Garam masala powder- 2 tsp
Coriander powder- 3 tbsp
Salt- to taste
Vinegar- 1 tbsp

Directions

Chop the palak and wash and drain the chicken.Heat oil in a pot. Add the sliced onions and fry till they are golden yellow. Now add the minced garlic and ginger followed by the green chillies. Sauté for 3 minutes before adding the spice powders.Once the base is ready now add the chopped tomatoes and salt let the gravy thicken and cook well.Add chicken to the gravy and let it cook at low fire for 20 minutes. Add vinegar before setting the fire to low temperature. Vinegar tenderises as well as gives a tangy flavour to the dish. Raw papaya paste is a substitute as tenderiser. Chicken does not need much of a tenderiser but if you are cooking mutton or beef in this style you can definitely benefit from raw papaya paste.Once the chicken is cooked add the palak. Palak should not take long time to cook so you can garnish with cilantro in ten minutes from when you have added palak and your chicken palak should technically be done.



Note: My dishes always have Kashmiri chilli for the red colour it brings.This is an optional ingredient.