The Year 2009 was surely a year of many events, good and bad. Much happened in past few months, when I was not Blogging here. Besides celebrating a contest Win (Click Photography event for Most Delish Picture- Gulabjamun ), our Kid’s Birthday, our Marriage Anniversary,  an engagement Ceremony of a dear Family member, the year end brought us close to one more occasion to celebrate, as soon as we stepped in year 2010.

Yeah Sindhi Rasoi, turned Two…What a feeling !

I still remember last year when we were Celebrating the first Birthday of this beloved Blog of mine, I was overwhelmed by so many wishes, pouring in.This year  I was preparing to celebrate the Day with something exciting and pleasant. But trust Life to give surprises! In my attempt to Renovate my Virtual Kitchen(Sindhi Rasoi), days passed into weeks  and weeks into months. I kept struggling with various LOOKS for my blog, messed up with many THEMES, wasted hours in learning basics of codes and all, but at the end , Hubby dear took the charge, helped me out in fixing bugs, tweaking the look (of blog ofcourse)  and finally we are here, though late, but raring to go , to mark the Second Birthday of Sindhi Rasoi…Three cheers for us !

Coming to recipe part, it has to be something special isn’t it? Well there you go ! A Spread of Jeera Rice, Chana paalak, Mushrooms in Red gravy, Fry (Tadka) Dal, along with usual Raita, Salad, Mint coriander chutney and Gaajar ka Halwa,  made in honor of  some friends visiting us, sounds good to you?

Jeera Rice was made simply by boiling Basmati rice with some salt and water till almost done. A tempering with  a spoonful of oil and  Cumin seeds, and later cooked on Dum for few minutes. Simple, aromatic Jeera rice went well with the Dal Fry, and Mushrooms and Chana paalak. Recipe of Mushrooms coming later (Or mail me at sindhirasoi@gmail.com to get its recipe in your Inbox). For now lets switch our attention to the wonderful combination of Vitamins, Iron, folic acid (from spinach) and proteins (from Chickpeas ).

Chana Paalak( Chickpeas or Garbanzo beans cooked in Spinach curry) :

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Kg Chickpeas, picked, rinsed and soaked for atleast 6 hours
• 1/2 Kg Spinach
• 2 Medium sized Onions
• 2 Large Tomatoes
• 2-3 green chillies
• Ginger a bit(about an inch size)
• Garlic 5-6 cloves
• Whole Garam Masala( A bit of dalchini, 2 cloves, 1 Black cardamom ,1 tejpatta or bayleaf, 2 whole black peppers)
• Salt to taste
• Turmeric powder 1/4 tsp or less
• Coriander Powder 1 tsp
• 1 tbsp Oil

Method :

• Boil soaked chickpeas with some salt till half cooked. For me , boiling chickpeas in a pressure cooker till 3 whistles of cooker, worked well.
• Drain the chickpeas and reserve the liquid.
• In the meantime, peel  the onions and grind those along with, ginger , garlic, Whole garam masalas to a fine paste
• In a pressure cooker, pour 1 tbsp of oil, add the onion paste and saute well till the paste changes colour to pink.
• Grind tomatoes and green chillies together and add to the onion paste which by now had changed to darker shades of pink.
• Saute well for few minutes and then add washed and chopped spinach and mix very well.
• Pour some water(not much as spinach cooks in its own juices), add some salt(remember there is already some salt in chickpeas , so be alert), and close the lid of cooker .Wait for 2-3 whisltes and put off the gas.
• Later, add the Half-boiled chickpeas, turmeric powder, coriander powder and saute well for 3-4 minutes, taking care so as not to break the chickpeas.
• Adjust the consistency of gravy by adding the reserved liquid in which chickpeas were boiled. Adjust seasonings and let the whole mixture simmer for few minutes on low flame till the chickpeas absorbs the flavors of spinach and  Garam masalas. The consistency of final dish is semi dry.
• Garnish with chopped fresh coriander leaves.
• Goes well with rice, Pulao, or even with Roti .