Palak Chutney

During Pregnancy or even otherwise one is advised to eat a lot of green leafy vegetables to keep ourselves healthy and fit. Spinach is one such easily available green leafy veggie containing amino acids, iron, vitamin C and folic acid. But always make it a point to add lemon juice to the spinach dish since vitamin C content in the lemon juice helps the body to absorb the entire iron content from spinach.

As the richest source of folic acid, spinach is a very valuable food during pregnancy and lactation. Megaloblastic anaemia of pregnancy occurs because the mother is deficient in folic acid. This deficiency of folic acid occurs as this substance is required for the developing foetus. Regular use of spinach during pregnancy will help prevent the deficiency of folic acid. It will also prevent threatened abortion and accidental haemorrhage, deficient absorption of food by small intestine associated with lassitude i.e. tiredness, shorness of breath, loss of weight and diarrhoea. Spinach is also good source of nutrition for nursing or lactating mothers and improves the quality of their milk.

This recipe is simple and delicious!!! I am not praising it just like that. When you have things handy this dish will hardly take any time. Whenever i buy spinach i always buy 2 bunches if they are fresh and crisp. I clean the leaves rinse and chop them. Heat a knob of butter or any oil and add these chopped leaves and cook till leaves shrink. let them cool. blend them to a smooth puree in a blender and use. This puree stays well in a freezer for a month. Just defrost and use. Normally I prepare Palak pulao palak paneer, palak puris.
Since sakshi is at home on winter vacation my schedule has been disturbed. Hence just cook whatever comes handy!! This puree had been loitering around in my freezer since a week and i did't want to go for an elaborate lunch nor any fast food this was the only healthy alternative i could think off. Hence came up with this dish, hoping to be liked by everybody..

Ingredients:
Palak puree - 1/2 cup
Onions - 1 medium
Tomato - 1 big
oil - 2tsp
mustard - 1 tsp
curry leaves - 5 leaves
red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
water - 1 cup
salt to taste

Method:
Peel onions and slice them thinly.
Wash tomatoes and cut them to thin slices.
Heat oil in a pan, add mustard seeds and let them crackle now add curry leaves and saute. Add sliced onions, saute till pink in colour now add chilli powder and tomatoes saute for a while say 2 min on medium flame. now add palak puree and saute for another minute. Add salt and a cup of water cover with a lid and cook on low flame till the tomatoes are mashed and the gravy is semi dry. this will take around 8 to 10 minutes. Serve hot with chapathis