Sai Bhaji (Dal Palak - spinach with lentils)

-Serves 4-5

As a child I hated this dish and fussed each time my mother made it for dinner, which was almost every week :) Fast forward 24 years and Sai-bhaji (spiced spinach with lentils) is one of my most favorite dinners. The popular vegetarian recipe is indigenous to the Sindi community of India and Pakistan. It’s a wonderful mix of spinach slow-cooked with gram lentils, onions, ripe tomatoes, ginger, garlic chilies and plenty of fresh herbs and spices. Served with caramelized onion rice (Pulav) and some crispy papadams, it is the perfect way to make vegetables shine on your dinner table.

Ingredients for Sai bhaji

4 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
100g onion, chopped
2 spring onions, bulbs and leaves chopped separately
1.5 tablespoons ginger, chopped
1 fresh bird’s eye chili, chopped
1/2 cup cubed carrot, optional
1 small potato, peeled and cubed - optional
1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon or to taste ground red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
1.5-2 teaspoons sea-salt
2 large or 400g fresh tomatoes, chopped
500g spinach leaves and young stems, finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dill
1 tablespoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - optional
3/4 cup toor dal (split pigeon peas) or chana dal (yellow split bengal gram), soaked in 2 cups water for at least one hour
5 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Recipe

Heat 2 tablespoons ghee or oil in a large thick bottomed saucepan or pressure cooker. Drop in onion, spring onion bulbs, ginger, fresh chili, carrots, potatoes and stir-fry for a few minutes until onion softens.
Next, add ground coriander, ground chili, turmeric, salt and tomatoes, and cook on medium flame for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add finely chopped spinach, spring onion greens, dill, coriander leaves, kasuri methi, lentils, mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes until spinach shrinks in volume.
Add 1.5 cups water if using a saucepan or 1 cup water if using a pressure cooker; stir well and bring to the boil. At this point, you can either pressure cook your curry for 15-20 minutes (once pressure is full, reduce heat and cook for 15-20 minutes) If using a saucepan, cover and simmer on low heat for about 45-60 minutes until lentils are soft. (cooking time may vary as toor dal cooks faster than chana dal)
Mash carrots and lentils slightly using a whisk, add lemon juice, stir well and bring to the boil.
Before serving, heat 2 tablespoons ghee in a small frying pan. Add garlic and fry on low heat for 3-4 minutes until garlic starts turns crispy golden. Transfer fried garlic and hot ghee into curry - stir. Serve hot with steamed rice or pulav (caramelized onion rice).