Aren’t we all looking for more ways to get spinach into our meals? Isn’t there always room for ‘more green’ in our daily diet? Well, this Indian-style ‘green’ spinach curry is a really delicious answer to both those questions.
An Indian-Style Spinach Curry with Mushrooms
Inspired by the popular Indian entrée ‘Palak Paneer’ (spinach base with cottage cheese cubes), I’ve crafted this versatile spinach curry. This recipe uses mushrooms which are incorporated into most of my meals; they are healthy and add a meaty element to the dish. However, this palak (spinach) curry also works with corn, potatoes and chicken.
I like that this ‘green’ spinach curry offers an alternative to the tomato based red curries that we see more often in Indian food. Add to that, the innumerable benefits of anti-oxidant rich spinach loaded with heart-healthy vitamins, minerals, fiber and iron.
Here’s a wholesome and appetizing addition to our daily dose of green…
Spinach Curry served with Brown Rice
Serves 4 • Prep Time- 15 minutes • Hands-on cook time- 25 minutes
10 oz bag frozen spinach, thawed*
½ lb button or cremini (baby Portobello) mushroom, halved or quartered as per size
2 tablespoons canola oil
Salt and Pepper to season mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoons of ginger garlic paste (or 2 cloves minced garlic/ ½ inch grated ginger)
½ teaspoon red chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin powder
¼ teaspoon coriander powder
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
¾ teaspoon salt
2 medium tomatoes, diced
Juice of half a lemon
*To thaw the spinach, just place it in a colander. Do not squeeze the water out of the thawed spinach since that ‘green’ water is rich with mineral and anti-oxidants.
Frozen Cut Spinach and Cremini (Baby Portobello) Mushrooms
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil; add the mushrooms. Sauté till they are browned, season with salt and pepper. Remove the mushroom in a bowl and leave them aside till required.
Mushrooms browning in the pan for the Spinach Curry
In the same pan, add the second tablespoon of oil and onions. Sauté for 5 minutes till the onions are pinkish brown. Add ginger garlic paste and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the dry spices and salt. Cook the spices with a few drops of water if the onion sticks to the bottom of the pan. Once the spices are done, add the tomatoes and ½ cup of water; cook 3-5 minutes.
'Green' Spinach Curry in the pan - Before and After Blending
Toss the thawed spinach in to the onion-tomato mix. Using an immersion hand blender or food processor, blend the spinach mix till it is a thick sauce-like consistency. (I like the curry a bit chunky, blend till your desired consistency is reached.) Cook on a medium flame letting the flavors come together in the pan. Add mushrooms and lemon juice to the spinach curry. Serve warm with brown rice and cucumber-onion raita.
This recipe is submitted for the Saint Patrick Challenge on Very Good Recipes.
i am so excited to try this! palak paneer is one of my favorite dishes, and i’ve been very disappointed with the French versions of it. thank you for posting it.
Thanks! You will love this one…especially since it is so simple to put together and full of flavor. Sometimes I don’t even blend it, the chunky version tastes just as good:)
Mmmm … I love making Palak Paneer! I’ve even fed it to someone who claimed they didn’t like spinach (I wonder what they thought the green stuff was?) But this looks like a great alternative to the paneer version!
That’s funny! Yes, I’ve had non-spinach-loving friends love this recipe too:) I like changing it up with mushrooms, potatoes, peas, frozen corn, etc…paneer or cottage cheese remains an all time favorite! Thanks…
I love spinach and I love Indian spices. Incidentally I made a spinach dish in Catalan style today, which I will post tomorrow. So please don’t miss the delicious treat, which is my favourite way to take in the goodness of spinach.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I hope my blog will grow big, useful and beautiful like yours.
Your site is coming along beautifully, will check it out in depth. Your link took me to your Istanbul food site, let me know where to find your Catalan spinach recipe. I love Turkish food since my dear friend, Ozlem introduced me to this delicious cuisine years back…you may want to check out her site Ozlem’s Turkish Table and connect with her. So glad to hear you like Indian spices…this spinach curry is wholesome and simple to make:) Thanks for visiting.
This looks yummy. I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks! It does taste really good…and congratulations on your new blog! It already looks so wonderful:) look forward to reading more of it!
Yum! This looks great! I bet it would be good with cubed tofu for some added protein! I’ll have to plan to try that!
You’re on the right track with tofu, this curry is traditionally had with paneer or Indian cottage cheese! Thanks, hope you like it:)
oh gosh this is so tasty! nom nom nom…
Thanks:) this is one versatile curry too, you can add anything to it from potatoes to chicken to sweet corn!
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oh wow i like this alot! do you have the recipe for palk paneer?
Thanks, this is a simple delicious recipe…
And this is the spinach sauce used for ‘Palak Paneer’. Instead of using mushroom, use cubes of Indian cottage cheese (here a nice link that explains how to make homemade paneer, its very simple -http://www.justasdelish.com/homemade-paneer/) or it is easily available at ethnic stores. Some Palak paneer recipes fry the cottage cheese before adding it to the spinach curry…personally, I like the fresh cubes in the Palak (spinach.) Enjoy it with rice or naan (Indian flatbread.)
oh thank u much! if i try to make it i’ll surely share it with u!
Sounds yummy! I’m always looking for some new to try. Thanks for posting : )
Thanks, hope you like the recipes. Let me know if you have questions.
Awesome recipe! I will have to make a few tweaks to make it fit paleo but it will fit perfectly as a side dish for a curried chicken recipe I have been using. Can’t wait to try this.
Thanks for trying it:) This curry is healthy and super delicious at the same time…and so versatile, it will go well with the curried chicken and perhaps a side of Indian lentil, Daal…
I am loving my curry! My next curry endeavor is sweet potato hash browns. I seem to really enjoy the curry with the coconut oil and am looking for a way to spice up my sweet potatoes.
Glad you are…curries are delicious and you can add any meat or vegetable to them. A dash of cayenne, cumin powder, salt and pepper ought to bring the sweet potatoes to life:) Some cilantro for freshness and you have a winner…
I will have to try this! Looks delicious!
Thanks…and its healthy and simple to put together:)
This recipe looks good
The nice thing about living in SG is the access to so many good Indian restos and ingredients — and I have palak paneer at least once a week (love it!).
Thanks…I agree, my sis was in SG for a while and she never missed India!
Palak Paneer is one of my favorites too, but getting the paneer is a trek to the Indian store:)
This looks good. I love Indian preparations. But I like the look of it much better before you blended it: the colors and shapes are more appetizing.
Thanks for visiting, glad you like Indian food. You have a great site too, interesting pieces.
The traditional Indian spinach curry is blended (you’ve probably heard of Palak Paneer)…but I agree, a lot of times I used to leave it chunky, has such a nice bite to it:) Now with kids, I blend it, they somehow go through it much faster!
Thank you for stopping by my page and liking the post with the Pesto Minestrone recipe. Your page looks great and so does your curry recipe. I will have to give it a try sometime!
Thanks for visiting. This curry is simple to make and versatile to use, with any favorite vegetable or even, meat.
Like your site too…and what a great idea to use pesto in the minestrone. Love both and can’t wait to put the flavors together.
I just found and ordered a No sodium Indian curry sauce that I am excited to try. I am not very experienced with curry flavors but I am always open for a new favorite!
A no sodium curry paste sounds great…ready curry paste have way-too-high sodium contents, I use them sparingly…I’d like to know the brand if you like it.
Thanks for visiting. Like your site, really interesting concept.
it is a curry sauce from Mr. Spice that I bought from http://healthyheartmarket.com
As I am not too familiar with curry flavors I am not sure if it would be considered “good” to someone else, but I do find it have very nice flavor. It gives me a good option since I do not know yet how to combine spices on my own to make a good curry flavor dish…it is on my list of new things to learn.
This website seems like a great source for low sodium heart healthy good, thanks for putting me on to it…
Even seasoned Indian food cooks use ready spices mixes at times, they are convenient and some combinations are easier out of the bottle. You might find my article on ’10 things to know about Indian spices’ helpful in getting started on curry spices, especially points 3 & 4. I’d be happy to answer any questions.
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Thanks Laura, I appreciate your trying the spinach curry, glad it turned out well:) and thanks for the link to the spinach curry in your amazing recipe for Curried Quinoa Salad, thanks to you I am using a lot more quinoa to replace rice, bread and chapati in our meals. Keep your wholesome and delicious recipes coming…love them.
This looks so yummy! We have so many greens thanks to our CSA and finding interesting ways to use them is a (fun) challenge. And such a quick recipe, too.
By the way, thanks so much for liking my post kids activities: salty pictures. It’s a really fun activity for kids!
Loved your site, will be back there! The salt activity looks cool, my kids are going to love it…have bookmarked it for this weekend:)
Thanks for visiting Peri’s Spice Ladle. I’m always looking for ways to use my greens, especially now when my garden will start getting profuse with Swiss chard and spinach.
Thank you for liking my French Toast post (http://thetechfoodie.wordpress.com/). I was curious and now having discovered your recipes, I’ll be coming back often . Thanks. wonderful blog.
Thanks, hope to see you back here soon. The Tech Foodie is such a cool site, just started following you…love that piece on Ipad apps. French toast is definitely a favorite…and can’t go wrong with crepes, they look delicious:)
I am obviously partial to technology, but I restrict it to one hour of screentime per day. So my kids have to choose between tv, computer or portable (ipad, etc.) if they want to have their screentime. I leave them alone on games, but I like to see them play a few that have educational values. There is a real treasure trove out there for that.
Technology is too precious to ignore:) We follow similar rules, fixed ‘screen-times’ which include ‘a screen of their choice’…while I keep an eye out for apps that are fun and offer learning at the same time (so all of us are happy:)
Thanks for entering the contest!
Thought the recipe went well with this contest:) Thanks.
Absolutely lovely! I wouldn’t want to leave out the cheese cubes though, I think I would add it all and feast!
Thanks! I’m definitely with you on the fresh cottage cheese (paneer), love those with this spinach curry:) If you do add paneer, keep it fresh and don’t saute them, they absorb the spinach flavor and are even more delicious:) And I found a low- fat version of paneer at the Indian store recently.
Some of my favorite vegetables (plus mushrooms) in one dish, brilliant! Thanks!
Thanks…spinach is one of my favorite greens too, the browned mushrooms add that extra something to the dish. Hope you enjoy it:)
Just listed you on a Sunshine award. Congrats!
Congratulations to you, well deserved! And thanks for the nomination…appreciate it:)
Delicious curry Peri, love both mushroom and spinach though never tried them together before – those lovely spices and ginger/garlic in it sounds wonderful! Definetely a keeper : )
Thanks Ozlem. The mushroom adds a great element to this curry. One of my other favorites is yellow corn, great crunch:)
This looks awesome! I love vegetable curries. I will definitely try this!
Thanks Laura, hope you like it. This is one of my favorite curries along with a dash of lemon and rice.
Hi, Peri–I made this spinach curry today for lunch. It was delicious! I will make it again!
Thanks for trying it out, Laura. So glad you liked it. Next time, you might want to add corn or potatoes or beans to change it up. This green curry just goes with everything:)
Will do! I will probably try potatoes first. I love potatoes in Indian-style dishes–especially anything with curry spices or garam masala.
We are on the same page there, Laura…and potatoes taste so good with this spinach:)