Author's Note: Palak Methi Mushroom – a healthy and delicious dish of sautéed button mushrooms and fenugreek leaves in a creamy flavourful spinach gravy. Loaded with the goodness of spinach and mushroom you are sure to like this dish. There are various ways to make this dish, and this is our way of cooking it.

Our grand mother taught us this recipe with cottage cheese in place of mushrooms and without using onion and garlic. As her recipe is yum [all of them are], we thought of making the same with mushrooms. And we added onion and garlic to it, as spinach taste excellent with both these ingredients.

So here's sharing our Nanima's [grand mother] recipe with our additions and twist to it. We hope you try this recipe out and relish this dish as much as we do. Happy cooking!

Recipe:
[Serves: 4]

Ingredients:
2 cup Spinach Puree
1 cup Fenugreek Leaves
10 Button Mushrooms – cut into half

2 tbsp. Clarified Butter [ghee]
1/2 tsp. Cumin Seeds [jeera]
1 tsp. Coriander Seeds – coarsely grounded
3 Dry Red Chilies – stem removed & broken into half

1 Onion [large size] – finely diced
1 tsp. Ginger Garlic Paste
2 tsp. [heaped] Tomato Paste

Dry Spices:
1 tsp. Dry Coriander Powder [dhaniya powder]
1 tsp. Kashmiri Chili Powder
1 tsp. Dry Mango Powder [amchur powder]
Himalayan Pink Slat to taste

2-3 tsp. Fresh Cream [optional] – beaten till smooth

Garnish:
1 tbsp. Ginger Juliennes [optional]
1 tbsp. Fresh Coriander Leaves – finely cut
1 tbsp. White Butter [optional]

Method:

  1. Heat 2 tbsp. Clarified Butter in a wide heavy bottom pan, till its molten and hot.
  2. Add 1/2 tsp. Cumin Seeds along with 1 tsp. of coarsely ground Dry Coriander Seeds. Sauté till the cumin seeds start to crackle.
  3. Add 3 Dry Red Chilies to the hot clarified butter and sauté for a few seconds.
  4. Now add the finely diced Onion to the pan and sauté till it becomes light golden in color.
  5. Add 1 tsp. of Ginger Garlic Paste to the Onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes on medium heat, while continuously stirring the onions.
  6. Add 2 tsp. [heaped] Tomato Paste along with pinch of Salt to the pan and mix well. Sauté everything together till the masala starts to release oil on the edges.
  7. Add the Dry Spices [1 tsp. Coriander Powder, 1 tsp. Kashmiri Chili Powder, 1 tsp. Dry Mango Powder] to the pan, mix well and sauté everything for 1 minute till the spices are well cooked. Keep stirring continuously to avoid the dry spices from burning.
  8. Now add the Mushrooms to the pan and mix well till each piece is well coated in the masala. [Approximately for 1-2 minutes]
  9. Add 1 cup of Fenugreek Leaves to the pan and mix well, till all is well combined. Cook on medium heat for 3-4 minutes, while occasionally stirring.
  10. Now add 2 cups Spinach Puree to the pan and mix well. Sauté for 1 minute.
  11. Add 3 tsp. Fresh Cream and Pink Salt to taste to the spinach and stir well. Cover the pan and let the spinach simmer on low heat for 4-5 minutes, before turning the heat off.

Palak Methi Mushroom is ready.

Garnish it with Ginger juliennes and some finely cut fresh Coriander Leaves. Place a small dollop of white butter on top and serve hot with roti and naans [flat Indian breads].

Tips:

This dish has thick gravy that nicely wraps around the mushroom pieces. You can add water to it while adding the spinach puree to the pan and adjust the consistency to your preference.

Use 2 medium sized Tomatoes in place of Tomato Paste. Finely cut the Tomatoes before adding them to the pan. Also cook the tomatoes nicely till they start to release oil on the sides, before you go to the next step in the recipe.

Notes:
For Spinach Puree:
500 grms. Spinach
2 Green Chilies

  1. Wash the spinach leaves well, till the water runs clear. Then roughly cut the spinach leaves and keep aside.
  2. Meanwhile in a pan heat 3 cups water and bring to a rolling boil.
  3. Now add the roughly cut spinach leaves along with the 2 green chilies and stir. Cook the spinach leaves in the boiling water till they change color.
  4. Transfer the blanched spinach leaves and green chilies to a bowl of ice water. Let the spinach leaves sit in the ice water for 4-5 minutes. Then strain the water and squeeze out any extra water from the spinach.
  5. Transfer the blanched spinach and green chili to a blender and blend into a fine puree with little water if required.