Baked Spinach Rolls

For the stuffing  
1 boiled potato
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green chilli
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
3 tablespoons white sauce 
1 tablespoon butter

Other ingredients  20 large spinach leaves
4 teacups white sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons cheese

For garnishing
6-8 capsicum rings
Few sliced black olives

Method
For the stuffing
Mash the potato
Heat the butter and fry the onion for 1 minute.
Add the green chilli and fry again for 1/2 minute.
Add the mashed potato, vegetables, chilli powder, coriander, white sauce and salt and cook for 2 minutes.

How to proceed
Drop the spinach leaves into salted hot water. After 5 minutes, drain.
Put a little stuffing in each leaf and roll up.
Spread a little white sauce on greased baking tray.
Arrange the rolls, pour the balance white sauce on top, sprinkle the cheese
Garnish with capsicum rings & sliced olives on top
Bake in a hot oven at 230 degree C (450 degree F) for 10 minutes
Serve hot.

PALAK PANCAKES

Ingredients 2 cups spinach (palak), finely chopped 1 ½ tsp ginger-chilli paste 1 tsp Garlic paste (optional) 2 tablespoons gram flour (besan) 2 teaspoons whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta) 2 teaspoons fresh curds a pinch asafoetida (hing) 1 teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon soda bi-carb or Fruit Salt 1 teaspoon oil salt to taste For garnishing 2-3 tsp Oil 1 tsp mustard seeds (Rai) 1 tsp cumin seeds (Jeera) 1 tsp Sesame seeds (Til) 4-5 Curry Leaves 1 tbsp coriander finely chopped To serve green chutney

Metohd 1. Mix all the ingredients using curds 2. Prepare mixture that is not too liquid or dry for shaping. 3. Take a small portion of the mixture in one hand and make 2 inch pancakes by patting with fingers. 4. Place these pancakes on a large greased microwave safe plate. Cover with a damp muslin cloth and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes 5. Keep aside for 2 to 3 minutes. 6. Lift gently using a flat knife and place onto a serving plate. 7. For garnishing heat oil in a small work and add mustard seeds, cumin seeds sesame seeds & curry leaves 8. When crackling stops pour it on the pancakes 9. Serve with green chutney.

Variations

1.	You can use fresh fenugreek leaves (Methi) instead of Palak. This preparation is good for heart and diabetes patients.
2.	If you do not have a microwave you can make it on a griddle (tava) or appam pan using little oil for cooking

Low Cal Palak Paneer

Ingredients:

2 bunches spinach, cleaned, shredded
100 gms. paneer made from cows milk
1 flake garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp. ginger grated
2 green chillies finely crushed
1/4 tsp. cumin seeds
1/4 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. wheat flour
3-4 pinches turmeric powder
3-4 pinches cinnamon clove powder
3-4 pinches asafetida powder
1 pinch garam masala powder
Salt to taste
Lemon juice to taste

Method:

Wash and drain spinach. Boil in minimal water till soft and bright.

Drain, cool, grind with flour, ginger, garlic, chillies.

Heat a heavy or nonstick pan, add seeds. When roasted add asafetida and ground
spinach.

Add all other ingredients, except paneer and lemon juice. Stir, cover and simmer for
3-4 minutes.

Add paneer and lemon juice, stir gently. Simmer further for 2 minutes.

Pour into serving dish. Serve hot with wheat flour phulkas, or steamed brown rice.

Note: Most other veggies may be similarly cooked by using the oil-less tempering
method as used above.

PALAK TOOVAR DAL

A spicy spinach and lentil preparation that you will enjoy with steamed rice or khoba rotis.Do not overcook this dal as the spinach tends to discolour quickly.

Cooking Time : 20 mins.

Preparation Time : 20 mins.

Serves 4.

Ingredients

2 cups spinach (palak), chopped
1/2 cup toovar (arhar) dal
1 teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
1 teaspoon green chillies, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoons chopped coriander
salt to taste

For the tempering

3 bay leaves (Tamal Patra)
3 cloves
3 whole red chillies
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
a pinch asafoetida (hing)
1 tablespoon ghee

Method

1. Clean, wash and soak the toovar dal for 2 hours. Drain and keep aside.
2. Combine the soaked toovar dal, spinach, ginger, green chillies, turmeric powder, salt and 3 cups of water and pressure cook for 2 whistles.
3. For the tempering, heat the ghee in a pan. Add the bay leaves, cloves, red chillies, cumin seeds and asafoetida.
4. When the seeds crackle, pour the tempering over the cooked dal. Add the chilli powder and chopped coriander, mix well and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
5. Serve hot.

PALAK METHI PANEER SLICE

Paneer forms the base of this dish which is then topped with spinach to form a mildly spiced dish.

Cooking Time : 30 min.
Preparation Time : 15 min.

Serves 6.

For the paneer layer

150 grams paneer
2 slices bread
2 boiled and mashed potatoes
3 tablespoons fresh curds
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
3 green chillies, chopped
2 tablespoons plain flour (maida)
1/4 teaspoon soda bi-carb
salt to taste

For the spinach layer

4 teacups finely chopped spinach
1 teacup finely chopped fenugreek (methi) leaves
a pinch soda bi-carb
1 onion, chopped
3 green chillies, chopped
2 teaspoons cornflour
25 mm. (1") piece ginger, finely chopped
3 tablespoons oil
salt to taste

For the decoration

tomato slices
grated paneer

For the paneer layer

1.Soak the bread slices in the curds for 10 minutes.
2.Crumble the paneer and knead very well.
3.Add the soaked bread slices, potatoes, coriander, green chillies, flour, soda bi-carb and salt and mix very well.

For the spinach layer

1.Add 2 teaspoons of water and the soda bi-carb to the spinach and fenugreek and cook on a slow flame until soft.
2.When cooked, drain out the water and blend the leaves in a liquidiser.
3.Heat the oil and fry the onion for 1 minute.
4.Add the green chillies, cornflour and ginger and fry again for a few seconds.
5.Add the blended leaves and salt.

How to proceed

1.Heat a well greased tava. Spread the paneer layer evenly all over the tava, by pressing with the back of a spoon or by hand.
2.Top with the spinach layer and cook for 7 to 8 minutes on a medium flame.
3.Decorate with tomato slices and grated paneer.
4.Serve hot

SPINACH SOUP

A light hot soup for spinach lovers.

Cooking Time : 5 min.

Preparation Time : 5 min.

Serves 6.

Ingredients

15 to 20 spinach leaves, cut into big pieces
1 clove garlic, crushed
6 teacups clear vegetable stock
2 tablespoons Chinese dried mushrooms or other canned mushrooms
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 tablespoon oil
salt and pepper to taste

For the topping

1 teaspoon sesame seeds oil

1 teaspoon cream

Method

1. Remove the stalks from the dried mushrooms and soak the mushrooms in 1/2 cup of water for 30 minutes.
2. Add the soaked mushrooms without the water to the stock.
3. Heat the butter and oil. Add the garlic and fry for 1 minute.
4. Add the spinach and stir fry over a high flame for 1 minute.
5. Add the stock, soya sauce and boil for 2 minutes.
6. Add the salt and pepper.
7. Sprinkle sesame seeds oil & cream on top and serve hot with chillies in vinegar, soya sauce and chilli sauce.

BAKED SPINACH PANCAKES IN TOMATO GRAVY

Lovely spinach pancakes served with spicy tomato gravy.

Cooking Time : 30 min.

Preparation Time : 20 min.

Serves 6 to 8.

For the pancakes:

1 teacup chopped spinach
100 grams plain flour (maida)
3 teaspoons ghee
1 teacup milk
For the vegetables
3 teacups mixed boiled vegetables, finely chopped
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon butter or ghee

For the tomato gravy

750 grams tomatoes, chopped
1 chopped onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
2 teaspoons sugar (approx.)
1 teaspoon chilli powder
2 tablespoons oil

For the baking

2 tablespoons fresh cream
2 tablespoons grated cheese

For the pancakes

1. Put the spinach to cook with very little water.
2. When cooked, blend in a liquidiser.
3. Mix the flour, ghee, salt and milk. Add half of the spinach puree and mix well.
4. Prepare pancakes on a non-stick frying pan using a little ghee.

For the vegetables

1. Heat the butter and fry the onion for 1 minute.
2. Add the remaining ingredients along with the remaining spinach puree.

For the tomato gravy.

1. Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add the tomatoes, sugar and chilli powder and cook until soft. Blend in a liquidiser.

How to proceed

1. Spread a little tomato gravy at the bottom of a greased baking dish. Put a pancake in the dish, spread some vegetables and a little gravy on top.

2. Repeat and build up layers of pancakes, vegetables and gravy in this manner.
3. Finally, cover with the cream and top with grated cheese.
4. Bake in a hot oven at 200 degree C (400 degree F) for 20 minutes.
5. Serve hot.

Tips: Take french beans, carrots, green peas, potatoes, cauliflower as the mixed vegetables.

BAKED SPINACH ROLLS

Spicy vegetables rolled in spinach leaves make a delicious baked dish.

Cooking Time : 20 min.

Preparation Time : 20 min.

Serves 6 to 8.

For the stuffing:

1 boiled potato
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green chilli
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 tablespoon chopped coriander
3 tablespoons white sauce
1 tablespoon butter

Other ingredients

20 large spinach leaves
4 teacups white sauce
3 to 4 tablespoons cooking cheese

For the stuffing

1.Mash the potato.
2.Heat the butter and fry the onion for 1 minute. Add the green chilli and fry again for 1/2 minute.
3.Add the mashed potato, vegetables, chilli powder, coriander, white sauce and salt and cook for 2 minutes.

How to proceed

1.Drop the spinach leaves into salted hot water. After 5 minutes, drain.
2.Put a little stuffing in each leaf and roll up.
3.Spread a little white sauce on greased baking tray. Arrange the rolls, pour the balance white sauce on top, sprinkle the cheese and bake in a hot oven at 230 degree C (450 degree F) for 10 minutes
4.Serve hot.

Tips:- Instead of spinach leaves, you can also use cabbage leaves.

Dainty Spinach Dumplings

Cooking Time : 2 mins
Preparation Time : 10 mins
Makes 6 pieces.

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach (palak), finely chopped
1 green chilli, finely chopped
2 tablespoons gram flour (besan)
2 teaspoons whole wheat flour (gehun ka atta)
2 teaspoons fresh curds (optional)
a pinch asafoetida (hing)
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon soda bi-carb
1 teaspoon oil
salt to taste

How To Proceed:

1.Mix all the ingredients, using curds if the mixture is too dry for shaping.
2.Divide the mixture into 6 equal portions

3.Heat a tava (griddle) and using a little butter, cook the prepared dumplings on both sides until golden brown in colour.

4.Place onto a serving plate & serve with green chutney.