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This is a Side Dish served in Big Feasts and Dinners. It is also a very good Dish for Domestic Meals and is enjoyed with Plain Cooked Rice.

Use Ingredients

    1. Lotus Roots – 250 gm
    2. Spinach – 1 kg
    3. Mustard Oil – 1 cup
    4. Cumin Seeds – 1 tsp
    5. Cloves – 3 nos
    6. Asafoetida – a pinch
    7. Red Chili Powder – 1 tsp
    8. Turmeric – 1 tsp
    9. Ginger Powder – 1/2 tsp
    10.Aniseed Powder – 1/2 tsp
    11. Curd – 1/2 cup
    12. ‘Garam Masala’ or ‘Vari’Masala’ – 1/2 tsp
    13. Green Chilies – 3 nos
    14. Green Coriander – a few sprigs

Preparation

  1. Scrape the Lotus Roots with a knife, and cut root heads and any withered ends of the stalks. Slice horizontally into 1/4″ thick round pieces. Wash thoroughly and remove mud from holes, and keep in a colander to drain water.

  2. Sort out good leaves of Spinach, discarding coarse stems, if any. Wash and Shred the leaves, and keep in a colander to drain water.

  3. Wash, slit and discard seeds of Green Chilies, and chop these. Chop also sorted and washed Coriander Leaves, and their tender Stems. Keep aside in a plate.

Method of Cooking

  1. In a steel ‘Kadahi’ or ‘Patila’, fry in oil, the Lotus Root slices for a few minutes, frequently fuming these with a perforated ladle. Take out with the same ladle after draining all oil, and keep aside in a bowl.

  2. Add Cumin Seeds, Cloves and Asafoetida to the Oil, after removing the ‘Kadahi’ or ‘Patila’ from the stove for a minute or two, to cool the oil a bit. Stir, and add Turmeric and the Red Chili Powder, along with a table spoon of water. Stir again till oil takes colour, and then add shredded Spinach, and go on turning with a steel ladle. After the Spinach leaves become limp, get cooked for a few minutes in the oil, and the water comes out of the leaves, add the fried Lotus Root pieces, beaten Curd, Ginger and Aniseed Powders, and continue turning with the ladle, till the Curd and Spices blend with the Vegetables and almost all water evaporates.

  3. When the Spinach begins to get fried, is almost done along with Lotus Roots, and the oil begins to separate, add a cup of water and stir. Let cook for another 10 minutes or so, till the water soaks into the Spinach and the Lotus Roots. Turn twice or thrice in the meanwhile, so that no caking, at the bottom, takes place.

  4. When oil again begins to show, add ‘Garam Masala’ or crushed ‘Vari Masala’. Stir and transfer to a Serving Bowl, and garnish with the chopped Green Chilies and Coriander Leaves. Serve.

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