Delicious ways to get your family to eat more spinach

Indian food and dals go hand in hand. From North to South, East to the West of India, almost every family has its own version of cooking dal. Most of us grew up hearing from our mothers about how healthy dal is for our health and therefore its consumption absolutely necessary on days we got food fussy. Combining dal with spinach makes for a very interesting dish too. Simply add some chopped spinach to toor dal in the pressure cooker. Cover this with some water and add some salt and turmeric. Start the pressure cooker and heat until one whistle followed by additional 10 minutes on slow flame. Every family gives a different tadka to their dals. One of the more common ones is with oil, cumin seeds, asafoetida, red chilly powder and coriander powder. Make this and add over the dal once it cools down in the cooker and voila dal palak is ready. “Creative Commons Dal Palak” by Yummy O Yummy;is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Palak chicken is an exceptionally delicious dish & easy to make. Take 1 tsp oil in a pan. Add cumin seeds, 2 cinnamon sticks, finely chopped onions, tomatoes and green chillies. Sauté for sometime and at this stage add some chopped spinach. Add salt and all the masalas of your choice. Stir for a few minutes and then add chicken. Cover it with some water and allow it to cook for 20-25 minutes. Garnish with some round onions and coriander leaves. “Creative Commons Chicken Spinach Curry” by Pelican is licensed under CC BY 2.0

With parathas in the plate, one generally does not need anything else. Blend some spinach with coriander, ginger, garlic and cumin seeds into a puree. Combine this with wheat flour (aata), some oil, chaat masala and knead into a dough. Add water as required. Make medium size balls from the dough and roll them out like how we make chapatis / rotis. Flip them one by one on a heated tawa with oil or ghee. Savour them with some pickle and raita. “Creative Commons Palak Paratha” by Vsigamany is licensed under CC BY 4.0

On a day when our system craves for comfort food, something like this seems like heaven. Heat cooking olive oil in a pan on a medium heat. Add 1 tsp chopped garlic and cook till it softens. Add the spinach and sauté with the garlic until it wilts. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Once cooked, drain and keep aside. Blend the spinach and garlic mixture in a blender/ food processor with some pasta water. You can add some cheese for added happiness. Puree until it forms a sauce. Mix this puree with the pasta and season it with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some Parmesan before digging in and feel the magic unfold. Image courtesy- Pixabay

This is one of the simplest ways in which one can consume spinach. It is very light on the stomach and can also work as an amazing side dish. Heat some butter or olive oil in a pan. Add in some chopped garlic and stir till it gets fragrant. Add some chopped spinach and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Keep stirring with a wooden spoon until it wilts. You could add some lemon juice in the end. A lovely aromatic dish is ready to be savoured. Image courtesy- Bhakti Menon