Yesterday was spent cooking and over eating chicken biryani. I couldn’t get myself to cook more chicken today as well. Not in this heat. My kitchen doubles as a sauna during summer. That’s why the spinach curry and some egg masala on the side. The curry base was a mix of cooked tur dal and ground coconut with whole spices. If the masala and dal are made before hand, it’s a easier to put it all together.
Spinach curry
Ingredients: Spinach - 2 cups chopped Tur dal - 1/2 cup cooked Green chilly - 1 slit Salt - to taste Ground masala: Coconut - 1/2 cup grated or cut pieces Dried red chilly - 1 Cumin seeds - 2 tsp Coriander seeds - 1 tsp Pepper corns - 1 tsp Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Water - enough to make a thick paste Tempering: Oil/ghee - 1 tbsp Mustard seeds - 1 tsp Dried red chilly - 2 Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Method: Blanch the spinach and keep aside. Save the water it was blanched in. Heat a pan with a tsp of oil/ghee and add 3 tbsp of the ground masala along with the dal. Mix well and add a dash of blanching water. Add the spinach, salt and chilly. Let it come to a boil and take it off the heat. Now heat some ghee in a pan for tempering. Add mustard seeds and let them splutter. Add the red chilly and the curry leaves. Once they splutter as well, add to the curry. Note: Save the masala in a box and freeze. Use when you need to make another curry. Replace spinach with any other cooked vegetables. Same with the dal
Egg Masala
Ingredients: Eggs - 4 boiled Onion - 1 medium sized finely chopped Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp Curry leaves - 1 sprig Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp Chilly powder - 1/2 tsp Garam masala - 1/4 tsp Salt to taste Oil/ghee - 2 tbsp
Method: Heat oil/ghee and add the cumin seeds and then the curry leaves. Add the onions. Add garam masala, turmeric, chilly powder and salt. Stir well. Once onions are cooked through, add eggs and mix. Take off heat and serve as a side dish.