Makhana in palak spring onion greens gravy.

When I visited Allahabad as part of a pilgrimage,I had my first dish of makhana.There was a bhandara at Ganesh Chaturthi in the purohit's home .They had a feast .In the feast,I observed  chhole along with sweet stuffed puris.I was enjoying the creaminess of the kabuli chana in chhole.I was told that it was not kabuli chana but makhana or fox nut.

Fox nuts are  healthy .They can be made into a light tea time snack as well.

I came across some recipes of fox nut recently from the various food blogs that I follow.The next step was to go & buy the same.I got it & tried this recipe today.

I had half a bunch of palak leaves.I had spring onion greens & so I decided to mix the two greens for the gravy.I was quite skeptical of the spring onions being pureed nicely & I was wrong.The two greens blended nicely .

I looked up two recipes .One was at Lite Bites & another at Tummy khush.

Ingredients : 1/2 bunch palak de stemmed,cleaned & roughly chopped,1/2 a bunch or less of spring onion greens( optional - even a small carrot can be cut up & pressure cooked & pureed along with other veggies in place of onions ) ,2 small tomatoes,1 small onion(  optional ) ,1/2 ' grated ginger,1-2 green chillies,1/2 cup makhana or fox nuts,1/2 tsp red chilli powder ( optional ) ,1/2 tsp dhania powder,1/4 tsp black pepper powder,1/4 tsp turmeric,1/4 tsp hing,1/2 tsp cumin ,1-2 tsp oil,1tsp ghee,salt to taste,

Method : Wash the palak ,spring onion greens ,tomatoes,onions & green chillies.Roughly chop them.Pressure cook for 1 whistle.Keep aside.

After the veggie mixture has cooled down ,puree in blender or mixer.Keep aside.The puree was 1cup.

Fry the fox nuts in ghee till the fox nuts slightly change colour.Keep aside.

Take oil in a vessel & put on the gas.Add cumin .When they crackle,add haldi & hing.Then pour the veggie puree into the vessel Let it cook for 5 minutes.Add dhania & black pepper powder.Add red chilli powder( optional ) .Mix nicely.Add salt & mix nicely.Add water if gravy is too thick.I added half cup water.Boil.Add fox nuts to gravy & mix.Let it cook for 5 minutes.Put off gas .

Serve makhana in green gravy with chapatis and or rice.

When I tasted the green gravy ,I felt it was lacking pungency.Hence added red chilli powder.And it turned out more pungent.So red chilli powder can be skipped in case ,one likes less pungent dishes.Other than it being slightly more pungent by my standard,the  taste was superb .The fox nuts just melt in the mouth ! Must try some more dishes with makhana !

 

Palak paratha

I make palak parathas so that my kid will eat palak in paratha form.

Palak is an excellent source of iron . Spinach or palak is also rich in manganese, magnesium, & vitamins like A, C, K & folic acid.

Ingredients: Half a bunch of palak leaves,1 cup  atta,1 tbsp besan, 3-4 tbsp oil,1 tsp lal mirch powder,1/2 tsp haldi,1/2 tsp powdered hing,1 tsp ajwain,1 tsp til( seasame seeds), 1/2 cup chaas  & salt to taste.

Method :Wash palak leaves thoroughly by soaking them in a large bowl of water for 10-15 minutes .Next drain the dirty water after removing the palak leaves on to a sieve. Pressure cook the plak leaves for 1 whistle. Let the cooker cool. Take out the cooked palak leaves & make a puree in the mixer .

Take atta , add all the lal mirchi powder,haldi, besan,ajwain,til,hing & mix .

Add the palak puree to  the atta spice mixture .Add little water or dahi or chaas if palak puree is insufficient to mke soft dough. Chaas or dahi is to give a tangy taste.

Now make lemon sized bowls of this mixed dough & roll into chapatis.Heat a tawa & put the chapati on that.Apply oil on the uncooked side.After the chapati changes color, turn it over & again apply oil on the side which is cooked.After the chapati becomes yellowish brown ,take it off from the tawa.

Repeat with other lemon sized balls & make remaining parathas.

Ajwain is to control flatulence & til provides calcium as also iron  . Besan to add protein content & make the parathas tastier ! Palak parathas can be served with dahi & achar.

This is another recipe for #livoenironchef entry for the Iron Chef contest on IndiBlogger.