Cauliflower in kale and spinach sauce

We are absolutely loving growing our own veg and fruits. This year, so far, we have been successful with strawberries, spinach, coriander, lettuce and kale. And hopefully the tomatoes, raspberries and courgettes (which we've planted) will cooperate too and make their way onto our dinner plate soon. My favourite veg to plant is kale. We've planted kale every year and it has never disappointed us. I have added it to smoothies, made kale chips or just turned it into a quick salad. Today we harvested some kale and spinach and after a quick discussion with my mom, made a curry following her recipe. I have used more spinach than kale because it was an experiment and so didn't want to go all out with the kale. 

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

Approximately 175 gms spinach 

Approximately 75 gms kale

200 gms of cauliflower florets (We didn't grow this - I used frozen ;) )

1 tbsp grated ginger

4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 inch piece cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

5-6 peppercorns

2-3 cloves

1 black cardamom 

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used can tomatoes)

2 green chillies (or as per taste), roughly chopped 

2 tbsp coconut oil
Salt to taste

Method

Roughly chop the kale and spinach and blanch in salted water for about a minute. Drain under cold water. 

Grind the spinach and kale with the ginger, chillies and tomatoes into a paste. Cover and keep aside.

In a pan, heat the coconut oil. Add the garlic and fry for a minute. Then add in the dry spices - cumin, cinnamon, bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves and cardamom.  Add the spinach and kale paste and water (add more water if preferred). Toss in the cauliflower , add salt and simmer for 5-7 minutes. 

You can substitute the cauliflower with potatoes, mixed vegetables, paneer or even chicken (of course if using chicken cook for longer) :)

Peppercorn chicken curry

On Sunday we cooked our first proper meal since becoming parents to a baby girl. For the past few months we have hardly cooked anything as my mom would do most of the cooking while she was here visiting us. Since then Salil has been busy with work and me with the baby so we've mostly just ordered or had ready meals. A few days of eating out and we were already craving a nice home cooked meal so over the weekend, since we could take turns looking after the little one, we thought of cooking some nice spicy chicken curry. We marinated the chicken and left it overnight in the refrigerator, ready for the curry on Sunday afternoon. You could marinate the chicken for an hour before cooking but ideally leave it marinating overnight as this enhances the flavour and makes the chicken pieces tender.

Ingredients 

350 gms chicken thigh fillets, skinless and boneless

2 medium onions, halved and sliced

1 large tomato, cut into quarters

1 tsp coriander seeds

3 tsp black peppercorns

1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (I used some store bought paste from a jar)

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder (optional)

2 tbsp plain yogurt

2 tbsp oil

Water (as required)

Method

Cut the chicken thigh pieces into chunks and marinate it in the ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, red chilli powder (optional) and yogurt.

Dry roast the peppercorns and coriander seeds for about 30 seconds, remove and keep aside.

Heat the oil on medium heat and fry the onions till lightly brown. Keep aside 1/3 of the onions and grind the rest of the onions with the peppercorns, coriander seeds and tomatoes into a paste.

Fry the paste in the remaining oil (from frying the onions) for 3-4 minutes. Add the kashmiri chilli powder followed by the marinated chicken and fry for a couple of minutes. Reduce the heat and cover and cook for 10 - 15 minutes.    

Add about a cup of water (or as required), add salt and the remaining fried onions and cook for further 15 minutes or until the chicken pieces are cooked.

Serve with parathas or rice.