Palak Papad Curry ~ Palakura Appadala Koora

Srivalli's Blogging Marathon is here for this month's edition. Going forward, this marathon will be from 16th-22nd and 23rd-29th of every month. This month the themes announced were 
1. Combo meals 
2. Cooking from back of packets
3. Cooking from cookbook
4. Crunchy snacks for kids
5. Regional Special
6. Butterless Bakes for Diet
7. Microwave cooking


I have chosen to blog this week from a few cookbooks. I have recently borrowed a book called '660 curries' by Raghavan Iyer from the library. I had read about the book in many blogs and was inspired to borrow this book and see if I could find anything which suits our palate and trust me, there are plenty. I shall post a couple of them from this book.


Day 1 - 
Coming to this curry , it is supposed to be native to Rajasthan, the desert state of India. Since  vegetables are not readily available year round in the desert, they resort to using preserves of various kinds. Here the usage of lentil wafers (Papads or Papadaums or Appadams) is highlighted. 


We personally felt the combo of palak and the papad was very good. Initially folks at home were skeptical and even laughed at the idea of cooking papads as opposed to frying them in oil. But one morsel of this curry mixed with rice into their mouths and they had to bite back their words. They loved the curry so much that they polished the bowl taking second and third servings much to my delight!! I am positive this curry will feature often in our menu.

Ingredients - 


Palak / Spinach leaves, finely chopped  6 oz (or 5 handfuls)
Papad / lentil wafers (uncooked) 5-6 (I used 3 inch papads)
Green Chillies 1-2 (or as needed)
Salt 1/2 tsp (Or as needed - Please note that the papads would have salt too)
Seasoning [Oil 1 Tbsp, Mustard seeds 1 tsp, Dhania (Coriander) Powder 1 tsp, Jeera (Cumin) Powder 1 tsp, Red Chilli Powder 1/2 tsp (or as needed), Curry leaves few torn]


Method Of Preparation - 


Heat oil in a medium size pan on medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds and let them pop. 


Temporarily remove from heat and add the rest of the seasoning and mix well.


After about 20-30 seconds, add in 1 1/2 cups of water and salt. 


Let the water come to a boil. Grab handful of chopped spinach and submerge in the boiling water. After the spinach wilts, add another handful of spinach and continue till all of the spinach is cooked.

Break the papad into bite sized pieces and add it to the boiling spinach. Lower the heat to medium and simmer, uncovered stirring occasionally.


Remove from fire after about 2 min and serve hot along with rice!


Check out the Blogging Marathon page to see the details of my fellow Marathoners doing BM#7


Preparation Time 20 min 
Serves 3-4