I had the most fun developing this recipe with my friend Sweta Sagarika from Global Daawat by Sagarika. It is a quick stovetop version a biryani, with fragrant basmati rice, spinach, potatoes and whole spices like cardamom, clove, cinnamon and peppercorn. It is topped with some crunchy roasted cashews, fried onion and fresh chopped mint and cilantro. The dish is irresistible.
Sagarika, who is a Maryland-based food blogger and I wanted to share a dish that would be perfect for those short on time, but seeking flavorful Indian food using mostly pantry staples, like rice, potatoes and frozen spinach. The full dish comes together on the stovetop in 20 minutes.
We were able to do a live cooking demo this past weekend to show how easy and quickly it comes together. Her recipe can be found on her blog here.
The recipe pairs well with a cooling cilantro mint raita. Like this one.
Substitutions
Spices
This dish uses mostly whole Indian spices, cumin seeds, cinnamon bark, peppercorns, clove and cardamom. The essential oils in these spices are released when toasted or tempered in oil. If you are unable to find these. You may replace it with 1 tsp of garam masala powder.
Herbs
Fresh Herbs : Cilantro and/or mint would be best to use in this dish. If you them on hand.
Kasuri Methi: A good replacement for kasuri methi would be dried dill.
Spinach
The recipe calls for 1 cup of frozen chopped spinach. If you have fresh spinach, you may used 2 cups, packed.
Oil
For this recipe, I used grapeseed oil. You may use any mild oil of your choice like sunflower or canola. Traditionally, spices are tempered in ghee. To make this recipe vegan, I omitted the ghee. You may add 1 tbsp of vegan butter to mimic the flavor of ghee.
Aloo Palak Skillet Rice
Ingredients
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2-3 small tomatoes or about ½ cup chopped
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 cup frozen spinach or 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- 1 med potato yellow or red
- 2 green chilies
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 inch nub ginger
- oil of choice I used grapeseed
Spices:
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
- 3-4 peppercorns
- 3-4 cloves
- 3-4 cardamom pods pressed
- 1 tsp red chili powder optional
- 1 tsp kasuri methi
- 1 Indian Bay Leaf (Tej Patta)
Garnish
- 2-3 sprigs mint leaves chopped
- 1 handful cilantro leaves chopped
- thinly sliced fried onion
Instructions
Prep:
- Cook basmati rice until perfectly done with 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp oil and 1 Indian bay leaf. 1 cup basmati rice to 1 ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Fluff with fork.
- On a medium-high flame, bring 3-4 tbsp oil to heat and fry 1 thinly sliced onion until deep brown.
- Add ½ cup raw cashews to the pan and fry until golden. Set aside for garnish.
- In a blender or bullet cup, grind green chilies ginger and garlic until they form a paste. You may also grate them.
To Prepare:
- Set a large skillet to high, and heat 4 tbsp oil of choice and add the whole garam masala spices: cinnamon, cardamom, clove, peppercorn and cumin.
- Once the cumin begins to sputter, add onions and stir. Once onions are translucent (2-3 minutes), add ginger-garlic-green chili paste.
- Saute until the garlic smell goes away, around 2-3 minutes.
- Add potatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes until slightly golden, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a little bit more oil so they don't stick to the pan.
- Add the tomatoes, red chili powder and kasuri methi, and 1 tsp salt. Allow the tomatoes to reduce for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Cover and allow the potatoes to steam for 5 minutes.
- Add spinach and a little bit of water to prevent tomatoes from burning. The tomatoes should be completely reduced and look like a gravy.
- Add 1 more tsp salt. Cover and allow mixture to cook for 5 minutes until potatoes are soft.
- Once potatoes are cooked, gently mix in the cooked rice and combine well. Remove from flame and cover. Allow to rest for the flavors to blend for at least 5 minutes.
- Garnish with cilantro, mint and fried onions and cashews. Serve with raita or plant based yogurt.
Notes
- You may sub 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste for the ground ginger and garlic.
- If you do not have whole spices, add 1 tsp garam masala powder.
- To cut down cooking time, parboil, or half-way cook the potatoes, then add them after you add the tomatoes, red chili and kasuri methi. (Step 7)
- Cooking times vary depending on the type of skillet, burner or location.
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