Palakura Pulusu (Spinach Soup)

Recipe by Cook's Hideout

I have been thinking of this recipe for quite a while now. With the scare on bagged spinach, I thought its better to be safe than sorry and didn’t buy spinach for almost 2 months. I bought a bunch from Indian store last weekend. This is my grandmother (Dad’s mom) recipe and I had to call my mom for the exact ingredients and method. It is a very earthy, nutritious and low-fat dish.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch Spinach (– washed and chopped)
• 1 red onion (– medium, chopped)
• 4 chilies (Green – chopped)
• 2 tbsps tamarind (pulp)
• 2 tbsps rice flour
• to taste Salt
• 1 tsp Mustard seeds
• 1 tsp Cumin seeds
• 15 oz. can black beans ((Menthulu))
• 2 chilies (Dry red)
• 4 - 5 Curry leaves
• a pinch Asafetida

Method

1. Take spinach and onions with 1 cup of water in a saucepan; cover and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
2. Add green chilies, salt and tamarind juice (add ¼ cup water to tamarind pulp to make the juice); cook for 10minutes.
3. In the mean time, mix the flour with ¼ cup water to make slurry with no lumps. Add this to the spinach mixture and cook for another 5 minutes till the mixture is slightly thickened.
4. Remove from heat and add the tadka or tempering. For tempering, heat 1 tsp oil in a small saucepan, add all the ingredients listed, let the seeds splutter. Add this to the spinach mixture. Serve with rice.

View the recipe instructions at Cook's Hideout