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Ruchik Randhap

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Palak Chicken


One of the biggest advantages of blogging is getting to know new people from across the world – whether they are co-bloggers or readers. I have made a lot of friends from both categories and have also collected a treasure trove of new recipes. Dishes that I may never have heard about or tried are slowly becoming a daily affair (well almost) in my kitchen. I am also motivated to push myself out of my comfort zone of cooking typical Mangalorean fare – well, most of it I do because the theme of my blog is to focus on authentic Mangalorean food, but I am also learning new cuisines, cooking styles and getting exposed to new ingredients & flavours.
Today’s recipe was given to me by one of my readers, Mr. Steven Pinto who is also a restaurateur with a passion for Mangalorean cuisine. It was this passion that drove him to start a restaurant in Bangalore that serves authentic Mangalorean fare ~ Sanna, Pathrade, Mani – you name it, they serve it. If you are in Bangalore you may have heard about the restaurant named Mangalore Pearl. I can’t wait to eat at the restaurant on my next visit to Bangalore!
The credit to this fabulous recipe goes to Ms. Amitha Prabhu who then passed it on to Mr. Pinto who was so kind as to give it to me. I tried it a couple of weeks ago and was completely bowled over how the Palak simply blends with the spices and makes the Chicken so flavourful. While I am sure it would taste great if eaten with rice, it tasted simply fantastic with hot chapathis. I think it’s a great way to get fussy eaters to eat some Spinach which is otherwise not liked so much.
I can’t wait to try this again! If you are health conscious you can skip the dollop of fresh cream (which you do not see in my pictures as I used butter which melted in no time!). This is also one of those dishes you can put together in a jiffy.

Palak Chicken
Serves 2

You Need:

  • 500gm Chicken

For the purée

  • 1-1/2 packed cups of Palak (leaves and tender stalk) or 1/3rd of a large bunch
  • 2 cloves garlic (without skin)
  • pinch soda-bi-carb (baking soda)
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp oil

For the masala

  • 1 small onion roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 inch ginger
  • 1 green chilli (add one more chilli if you like it spicy)

For frying

  • 1 small onion sliced
  • 1 green chilli slit
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/2 tsp pepper powder
  • 1/4 tsp garam masala powder
  • 1 small tomato chopped
  • 2 tsp olive oil (or 1 tsp ghee+2 tsp oil)
  • salt to taste
For garnishing (optional)
  • 1 tbsp fresh cream or unsalted butter
Method:

1. Cut Chicken into medium size pieces, wash and allow to drain on a colander. Wash the Palak well and allow to drain.
2. In a thick bottomed vessel place the Palak, garlic, soda-bi-carb and salt and about 1/4 cup water and cook on a slow fire. When the leaves turn deep green and completely limp, purée them in a blender. Keep this paste aside.
4. Grind all ingredients mentioned in ‘For the masala‘ to a fine paste. Keep aside
5. In a wok or pan heat some oil or ghee (or a combination of both) and fry the sliced onion well – until it turns golden in colour (but not too brown). Add the ground masala and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the Turmeric powder and salt to taste (go easy on the salt as the puréed palak also has some salt). Add the Chicken, mix well, cover and cook on a medium slow flame.
6. When the Chicken has cooked halfway, toss in the pepper powder, garam masala powder, chopped tomatoes and the green chilli. Mix well, add the masala water  & palak water (from the mixer grinder). Cover and cook until the Chicken is almost done.
7. Add the Palak puree and mix well. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
8. Turn off flame, garnish with fresh cream/butter and serve hot with chapathis or rice


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Comments

  10. stevenbinto says

    I simply couldn't resist but to prepare it once again after seeing your post. This time around, I skipped the 'garnish with cream' part at the end to get the real taste of palak. Thanks Shireen for sharing this recipe for your readers.
    Steven Pinto, Mangalore Pearl.

    Reply

  11. Prathima Rao says

    Looks inviting!!! The gravy is nice & green!! Mom makes palak paneer the similar way 🙂 Btw..i just bought some readymade bafat powder,..Used it only for mushroon sukka earlier..For what other veg dishes can the powder be added??
    Prathima Rao
    Prats Corner

    Reply

  13. Unknown says

    Hi Shireen! I was just looking for a recipe last night that helps the palak retain most of its goodness and green, while allowing the chicken to be tender as well…. Voila! one look at the picture in your blog and at the ingredients, i knew that THIS ONE, I GOTTA MAKE! And my word! it turned out exactly the same. Though I gave some more twists of flavour following my own instincts (All good cooks do :P). While frying the onion and the masala, I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon powder and 1/2 tsp of freshly ground clove powder, and instead of tomatoes( we avoid putting tomatoes in spinach), I put around 2tsp of tabasco/red pepper sauce. I really wish I could attach a picture of how beautiful mine turned out! Thanks again for a great recipe! Happy cooking to all 🙂

    Reply

  14. Unknown says

    Hi Shireen! I was looking for a palak chicken recipe last night, which helps palak retain its goodness and green while allowing the chicken to be tender as well. One look at your picture and ingredients, and I know that THIS, I GOTTA MAKE! And my word, It turned out to be the greenest, and the most tastefully flavoured palak and the most perfectly cooked chicken! And green, just as it is in your picture!

    Though I added some more twists of flavour while cooking( No good chef can resist that, lol). after washing the chicken and puréeing the palak, I separated the water from the palak and soaked the chicken while i cooked everything else. So by the time chicken had to be put in the wok, It had already absorbed the flavour of the palak and it would cook faster.

    Also, while frying the onion masala, you could add for taste, around 1/2 tsp each, of freshly ground cinnamon and clove powder.

    We also do not prefer tomatoes in our spinach, so instead I put in 1 1/2 tsp of red pepper/Tabasco sauce.

    I really wish I could attach a picture of how beautiful mine turned out to be!

    Anyway, thanks for sharing a great recipe Shireen! Happy cooking all you guys n gals! 🙂

    Reply

  15. Shireen Sequeira says

    @ Unknown: Hi! (I wish you had posted ur name :)) Thanks so much for those lovely comments, so glad to know that you made your minor changes and went by instinct..I will try soaking the chicken in the palak next time..great idea!! Do let me know if you've tried any other recipe!! Thanks for your feedback!!

    Reply

  16. Unknown says

    Oops! I thought my name would have shown automatically. Anyway, my name is Annie, from Mohali, Punjab :-). I might now give a go to your butter cake recipe. Not that I have not made it before, but its always a challenge for me to get it perfectly risen and soft, since I do not have a baking oven, I have a microwave instead. I do end up making some yummy brownies and biscuits instead of cake though :D!!!

    Shireen, I am going to give this recipe a go with just 1 egg, since 2 sounds heavy for me. Let's see how it works! 🙂

    Reply

  17. anna says

    Oops! I thought my name would have shown automatically. Anyway, my name is Annie, from Mohali, Punjab :-). I might now give a go to your butter cake recipe. Not that I have not made it before, but its always a challenge for me to get it perfectly risen and soft, since I do not have a baking oven, I have a microwave instead. I do end up making some yummy brownies and biscuits instead of cake though :D!!!

    Shireen, I am going to give this recipe a go with just 1 egg, since 2 sounds heavy for me. Let's see how it works! 🙂

    Reply

  18. Unknown says

    Oops! I thought my name would have shown automatically. Anyway, my name is Annie, from Mohali, Punjab :-). I might now give a go to your butter cake recipe. Not that I have not made it before, but its always a challenge for me to get it perfectly risen and soft, since I do not have a baking oven, I have a microwave instead. I do end up making some yummy brownies and biscuits instead of cake though :D!!!

    Shireen, I am going to give this recipe a go with just 1 egg, since 2 sounds heavy for me. Let's see how it works! 🙂

    Reply

  19. Shireen Sequeira says

    Hi Annie! Great to hear from u again 🙂 You can try the cake by skipping the egg although I have never tried it. If the batter needs extra moisture I guess you can add a little milk to it! Good luck!

    Reply

  20. Shweta Pereira says

    Hi Shireen,

    I discovered your blog yesterday and decided to try out the Palak Chicken. It came out very well and tasted excellent. Thank you for the simple instructions and clear photos.

    However, the color of my Palak Chicken was much darker than the great looking one in your photo – any ideas why?

    Regards,
    Shweta

    Reply

  21. Shireen Sequeira says

    Hi Shweta,

    Thanks a ton for your compliments!! Palak will remain green if you don't overcook it. Next time you can try adding a pinch of sugar to retain the pretty green colour. Hope it helps!

    Rgds
    Shireen

    Reply

  25. Preeti says

    Tried this for dinner last night. It came out great! Lovely green colour of the palak added to the appeal of the dish. Only change I made was that I added whole garam masala instead of the powder, and some cumin for tempering. Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe.

    Reply
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