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Merry Christmas to all our readers and patrons

Nutritious Spinach Soya curry - Palak Soyawadi ke sabji

It is not a traditional Bengali cuisine but I cooked this North Indian dish as per our Bengali curry. This makes a wonderfully tasty and nutritious curry. Spinach is a wonder vegetable full of vitamins and sometimes it is called superfood for its amazing health benefits. Soya is rich in vegetable protein and considered a must for vegetarians. For details of health benefits of spinach you can refer https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/benefits-of-spinach-for-skin-hair-and-health/#gref and for Soya you can refer the same site https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/amazing-benefits-of-soybeans-for-skin-hair-and-health/#gref. Let me tell you you cannot find any other vegetarian combo dish which has so much nutrition and that is why as a mother of two kids I like this dish for my children. Let’s get on with the recipe:-

Preparation Time: - 20 min

Cooking Time: - 15 min
Servings: - 2~3 persons

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch Spinach (yield of ¾ cup of puree)
2. 1 cup Soya chunks (small)
3. 1 large Onion chopped
4. 1 inch stick of fresh Ginger
5. 4 cloves of Garlic
6. 1/3 cup Boiled Milk
7. 1 tsp Cumin seeds
8. ½ tsp Coriander powder
9. ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
10. 2 Green Chilies chopped
11. ¼ tsp dried Fenugeek leaves (Kasoori Methi)
12. ¼ tsp Asfetida (Hing)
13. 1 ½ tbsp. Ghee or clarified butter
14. 1 tsp Garam masala powder
15. Salt according to taste.
16. 4 tbsp Vegetable oil  ( I used Sunflower oil but you can use any vegetable oil)
17. ½ cup Water

Preparation:-

1. Boil Milk and keep aside.
2. Chop the onion and green chilies.
3. Take 1 cup of small chunks of soyabean (Soyawadi). You can cut soya chunks in small pieces if you have big chunks. Soak soya in water for 10~15 min. Drain and squeeze out the last drops of water. Place the soyawadis in milk for 10~12 minutes.
4. Wash spinach leaves thoroughly and cut the stem.
5. Use a blender to make puree out of it. The amount of puree should be around ¾ cup.
6. Heat oil and 1 tbsp of Ghee in a Skillet / frying pan in high flame. When the oil is sufficiently heated turn the burner to medium heat and add cumin seeds and green chili.
7. When they crackle add onion, garlic and ginger. Sauté till the onion turn golden brown.
8. Add turmeric powder, coriander powder, and hing. Mix for a few seconds.
9. Now add spinach puree and stir continuously for about a minute.
10. Add ½ cup of water and continue cooking for 2~3 minutes,
11. Pour the soya chunks and stir continuously to mix well. Apply salt and garam masala powder
12. Continue cooking for 5~6 min or till the thickness of gravy satisfies your choice.
13. Add Kasoori methi and sprinkle the rest of Ghee.
14. Mix again and switch off the burner. Your yummy dish is ready.

Serve hot with steamed rice or any form of flavored rice or Puri/ Roti /Naan.

As always please feel free to comment, criticize and seek if any help is required. I am all ears.

Zomato Restaurant review - Sorse, Whitefield

We do not have many Bengali Restaurants in Whitefield and Sorse is one of them. We went there on Saturday and that is why could not try Non-Veg food. We ordered two Veg Thalis and Bengali Veg Pulao. My kids ordered Luchi Alur Dum and Egg Devil. I would say the dishes were not many and the portion are also not large. The taste was good but if you compare with Bhajohori Manna then it would score less. But the price here is reasonable and the ambience is nice. The waiters were helpful but the responses were not prompt. There are other problems also like parking and water supply in wash basin. There is very limited parking available and that is for the whole building shared by other establishments. It was full on weekends and it is a pain to park. You can of course park your vehicle in nearby Forum Value mall but that would be extra Rs 40 for staying over 1 hour. There was not water in hand wash area and that also caused lot of difficulties. Overall I would give 3.5 as rating. Some photos are included here.