Recipe - Potato, mushroom and spinach curry

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Hi everyone,

 

Here is the recipe I made last night. It just sort of "happened" as I went along so there are no real quantities etc.

 

POTATO, MUSHROOM AND SPINACH CURRY (serves 2-3)

 

1 tablespoon (or less) groundnut (peanut) oil

 

curry powder to taste (I used about 1 1/2 rounded teaspoons of a fairly strong curry powder as I find that the spinach tends to take a bit of fire out of the taste of the curry)

 

garam masala - about the same quantity as the curry powder

 

Turmeric - again, about 1 1/2 teaspoons

 

ground cumin - about 1 teaspoon

 

potatoes - I used three medium ones (peeled and cut into smallish cubes)

 

mushrooms (approx 4 - 6 ounces [100-150 grams])

 

spinach (I used the baby leaf spinach and started with about 1/2 - 3/4 lb. It looks like mountains of spinach but it wilts to almost nothing). Wash thoroughly and remove stalks if necessary

 

water - as needed (I estimate that I used about 1/4 pint in total but it could have been a little more or less)

 

yoghurt and chopped coriander/cilantro for dressing

 

Heat the oil in a pan and when hot (but not smoking) add the spices and when they start to smell delicious add the potato cubes. Stir frequently until potatoes are coated with the spices then turn down the heat a little and cook gently. Add a tiny dribble of water if it looks like the potatoes are going to 'catch' on the pan. After about 10 minutes the potatoes should have started to get a little soft. At this point add the mushrooms (mine were about 1" diameter and I cut each one into quarters). Stir the mushrooms to coat with the spice mixture. Add a little more water if needed and cook for about another 10 minutes - until the potatoes are just about done. Now comes the fun bit. Add about 1/4 of the spinach and stir constantly until it has completely wilted then repeat with another batch. Continue in this manner until the spinach is in the pan and wilted. It works much better this way than trying to add all the spinach at once. I did add a little more water and cook it for a few extra minutes to allow the water to become a sort of 'gravy' flavoured by the spices. If you prefer a dry curry just forget about adding the water - there is plenty of moisture in the spinach anyway.

 

Serve with plain yoghurt and chopped coriander/cilantro (if liked). We also had some mango chutney with the meal.

It was really too much for just the two of us so I ended up taking what was left over to work for lunch today. Of course you could always have some naan bread if you wanted something to soak up the juices.

 

Cheers from Marie in Holland