Spiced potato and spinach wheels

Another great recipe from our Vegan Taste of India cookbook.

This is quite time-consuming: it took us 3.5 hours from getting the ingredients to eating our dinner, but it was well worth it I tell you!
Serves 4-6: (makes 12 wheels)

900 g potatoes, diced
100g wholemeal self-raising flour
25g margarine
1/2 tsp turmeric
black pepper

filling:
225g fresh spinach, washed, patted dry and finely shredded
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 TBSP groundnut oil
1 TBSP (soya) plain yoghurt
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp yellow mustard seed (original recipe with black mustard seeds, but I don't have any)
Black pepper

1. Boil the potatoes until well done, drain thoroughly and dry off over a very low heat. Mash the potatoes with the margarine and add the sifted flour and turmeric. Season black pepper and mix well. Chill for 1 hour.

2. Heat the groundnut oil in a large saucepan/wok and fry the onion and garlic until soft. Add the mustard seeds and garam masala and fry for another minute. Add the spinach and cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in the yoghurt. Season with the pepper. Allow to cool.

3. Turn the potato mixture out onto a floured piece of cling film and shap into a 30 x 23 cm rectangle. Spread the spinach mixture evenly over the base, leaving 2 cm gap along one of the long edges for sealing.


4. Starting from the other long edge roll up like a Swiss roll (using the cling film to pull the roll up makes this easier) and squeeze the edges together to join.


5. Cut the roll into 2.5 cm portions with a sharp knife.

6. Shallow fry the wheels for a few minutes until golden brown on both sides.


Serve hot with a vegetable curry.

Potato and spinach korma

Serves 4:

2 TBSP groundnut oil
500g potatoes, diced
1 big bunch of spinach, shredded
2 carrots, sliced
4 tomatoes, roughly chopped
200g korma sauce
1 TBSP chopped coriander

300g basmati rice

1. Parboil the potatoes and carrots for 10 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

2. Fry the potatoes and carrots in the groundnut oil for 4 min.

3. Add the spinach and tomatoes. Cook for another 3 minutes.

4. Stir in the sauce and coat well until heated through.

5. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package instructions (10-12 minutes). Drain well.

6. Serve rice and vegetables onto warm plates and sprinkle with coriander.

Creamed spinach and potato curry with basmati rice

This is a very simple and quick to make dish. I am not a huge fan of spinach but I don't mind it occasionally, particularly with ricotta as a tortellini stuffing.


For 4 people:

300g basmati rice
400g potatoes, peeled and diced
300g spinach, thawed and pat dry if frozen
2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chilli powder
pepper & salt
200ml single cream

1. Parboil the potatoes and drain well.

2. Heat some vegetable oil in a non-stick saucepan, add the potatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and all the spices. When the spinach and potatoes are cooked, add the cream and stir.

3. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to packet instructions.

4. Serve into warm bowls.

Paneer and spinach curry

I normally do not really like spinach, but we bought these baby spinach leaves recently and they were truly delicious. So much that I decided to make something else with baby leaf spinach/ This time, it was a curry. I bought a ready-made sauce I confess, but I have to spend time studying (Dutch, but also starting revisions for my management course exam which will take place in October). We also have 2 evenings a week spent on cycle rides which involve something quick to cook on these days.


Paneer and spinach curry for two:

250g paneer, diced (Indian cheese)
500g baby leaf spinach
200g basmati rice
your favourite curry sauce

1. Fry the diced paneer in groundnut oil until golden, then add the spinach leaves
2. Meanwhile, boil the basmati rice.
3. When the paneer and spinach are cooked, add the curry sauce
4. Serve in warm bowls.