Spinach Pulav:


From the time I heard about this month JFI, I wanted to do something new and different. After much research, I found my recipe. I'm not a great fan of greens, unlike my husband. But this dish has made me want for more. It is delicious.
Recipe Source: Madhur Jaffrey's Step-by-Step cooking. But I made few changes to suit my family.

Long-grain rice or basmati rice - 1 cup
Fresh Spinach - 3/4 lb (cleaned, washed)
Onions - 2 (medium)
Garam masala - 1 tspn
Cloves - 3
Salt

Wash the rice well and soak it in cold water with 1 tspn of salt. Let it soak for 2 hours.

Bring little water to a boil in a pan , blanch spinach just until wilted. Drain and let it cool a bit and press down to remove excess moisture. Save the liquid. Chop the spinach finely.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Chop onions into thin long slices. Heat a pan, add oil, cloves and fry. Add onions and fry till light golden brown. Add the chopped spinach and garam masala and cook for 5 minutes.

Drain the rice and add it to the spinach mixture and add 1 1/2 cups water (use the reserved liquid). Add salt and bring it to aboil. Lower the heat and simmer it for 15 minutes stiring occasionally. By now, all the liquid would have evaporated.

Transfer the rice into an oven proof dish and cover it with foil and cut an 1/2 inch hole in the center so as to let th steam to escape. Place it in the middle of the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot!

Note: If you have a a flameproof and oven proof casserole, you could cook and bake in the same.

This is my entry for JFI - Going Green with Green Leafy Vegetables hosted by Indira.