Palak Paratha

Spinach - tasty, tasty greens! Perhaps even the "meatiest" of the greens as well? I remember now being much of a fan of greens when I was little, but as far as my blog goes - I am sure you can tell that has changed, and the first time I had a vegetarian pizza with spinach - I was hooked!

Why not try and add some spinach in homemade parathas? It works a treat, and can be served alongside almost any Indian main. I used spelt flour instead of wholemeal, and it worked a treat!

Palak Paratha
(Makes 5-6)

300g spinach
250g wholemeal or spelt flour
A pinch of salt
1/2 green chilli, finely chopped
1 tsp dried pomegranate seeds (optional, I didn't have any at hand)
About 2 tbsp oil for frying (or butter if you want)

- Start by having the spinach in a casserole. Boil up water and pour over it, stir a little for about a minute or so - until the spinach has wilted. Drain off the water, and whizz the spinach either in a processor or with a stick blender.

- Now, in a bowl, mix the flour, salt and chilli (plus pomegranate seeds if using), then, make a well in the middle and pour in the spinach mixture. Work the dough well. You can add water if necessary, but I found that after working the dough for about 5 minutes, there was no need for it.

- Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave to sit for about 30 minutes (....I was too impatient and skipped this, or...I let it sit for about 10 minutes rather...).

- Now, divide the dough into 5 or 6 pieces and flatten out until about 15 cm in diameter. I did this one by one as I had one paratha ni the pan frying.

- So! Heat about 1 tbsp oil in a small frying pan, and cook the parathas for a few minutes on each side until slightly crisp and green and golden. Continue with the remaining parathas, until you have a lovely little stack of them.

Enjoy straight from the pan with food of choice! I even rolled one up and had it as part of my lunch one day, so good!

Have you ever tried to make parathas before?
I used to make stuffed ones when I was working in the Indian kitchen, and I was surprised at how easy it was to make them instead of buying them. Usually you have the ingredients for plain or stuffed parathas at hand anyway, and so it can save you money *smiles*. Thanksfully, the spinach is cheap, and adds a whole lot of nutrition to this green version here, bonus! Not to mention the lovely flavour, mmm....

This weekend has been packed with as much as TWO charity pot-lucks where everyone brings some home cooked goodies for a good cause and get-together. Friday evening was for International Women's Day charities, and the brunch on Saturday was for Barnardo's children charity. It was great fun and I got to meet so many lovely new people as well as catching up with a lot of friends - win!

Today, the weather was actually great! And so a friend and I went out for lunch, before going on adventures through the Botanics and Kelvingrove Park, it was lovely! Tonight, I watched an eye-opener of a movie:

I think I can count on two hands the amount of times I have had any meat-produce this year, and this movie encouraged my views on potentially becoming a full-time vegetarian, for a better world! Previously, I have seen snippets of the way some animals are treated, but to watch a whole documentary about the whole process, as well as telling us how it can be beneficial for your health really did move me. When I was young, I was stubborn and picky and ate only a few vegetables (less picky on the fruit, because y'know it's so sweet and juicy most of the time!), but later in life, especially after having moved from home, I find myself discovering more and more exciting food that doesn't necessarily need to be prepared using these products.
What are your thoughts on vegetarianism/veganism?

Aaaaaand how has your weekend been? I hope you have a lovely Sunday evening, and a good start to the new week!


Original source:
India - Cookbook, p. 613

- Jules