SPINACH AND CHEESE CURRY

Indian vegetarian spinach and cheese curry

This is a dish I learned from an Indian lady, at a cooking class. It's simple to make and has a beautifully subtle flavor. As per true curries, it uses raw spices instead of some prepackaged curry powder.

Ingredients

(Serves 4 to 6)

1 1/2 lbs fresh spinach
1/2 lb fresh ricotta cheese (see note)
3 medium brown onions
1 1/2 inches fresh ginger, chopped fine
1 medium tomato
1 1/2 tsp cummin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp red chile powder (cayenne) (or more to taste)
2 cloves
pinch nutmeg
pinch mace
1 Tbsp ghee (or use melted butter or oil)
salt (to taste)

Procedure

Cook the spinach and chop it up.
Cut the cheese into 3/4-inch cubes and deep fry a few pieces at a time in oil (a wok is good for this).
Fry the chopped onions in the ghee. When almost brown, add the finely-chopped ginger. Use a medium to high heat.
When the onions are golden, reduce the heat and add the skinned and chopped tomato, then the spices and salt.
Cover for a few minutes, then add the spinach and salt.
Cover and simmer about 5 minutes to let spices penetrate.
Add the cheese pieces, mix, and serve.

Notes

We eat this dish as a meal with rice, although you can use it as one dish along with others.

The quantities given for the spinach and cheese are very flexible. I never measure them, just putting in what seems right. Experiment. Similarly, it can be kept hot for a while with no loss in taste or texture.

In North America, most Ricotta cheese is packed as a pot cheese. This recipe calls for a more solid form of the cheese. Specialty ethnic markets in large cities will carry solid Ricotta. You can make your own by buying a tub of pot Ricotta and wrapping it in a clean cloth to wick the moisture out, leaving the whole assembly in the refrigerator for a week or so, and changing the cloth every day. With such treatment the cheese will gradually solidify enough that you can slice and fry it. Buffalo-milk Mozzarella is a fair substitute, and ordinary Mozzarella is a last-chance substitute.

Don't fry the cheese too long. It should have a golden exterior and have a marshmallow texture inside. Frying too long makes it hard and dry.

Use whole cummin seeds and cloves, not the ground variety.

Like most curries, this reheats splendidly.

Rating

Difficulty: easy to moderate.
Time: 1 hour.
Precision: Approximate measurement OK.

Contributor

 
Peter C. Maxwell, 
Department of Computer Science, 
University of New South Wales, 
Sydney, AUSTRALIA. 
 
peterm%cadvax.oz@seismo.css.gov

Recipe last modified: 16 Jun 86

Original header

Path: decwrl!recipes
From: peterm@cadvax.oz (Peter C. Maxwell)
Newsgroups: mod.recipes
Subject: RECIPE: Spinach and cheese curry
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Date: 10 Oct 86 07:38:05 GMT
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