Standing in front of my fridge, I wondered what to cook today. This has almost become an everyday ritual for me. Looking through the available groceries, I picked spinach and then defrosted some meat, thinking I will make some traditional palak ghost (spinach and meat).
However, I was overcome with the craving to try something new and delicious. Sifting through random ideas I decided to make haray bharay spinach rice (green rice with spinach) along with aloo ghost (meat and potato curry). (PS: I love palak ghost to the core. I just wanted to try something new with palak this time around).
I created the haray bharay chawal by adding a twist to the regular ‘tarkay walay chawal’ by adding spinach. Sometimes thinking outside the box can help you create a new dish; and that’s exactly what happened. I always keep some green podina chatni and chicken stock ready to go in my freezer. These two have always turned out to be the best support elements on numerous occasions — and they were perfect for my spinach rice as well. The chicken stock added richness to the rice (instead of water) and the green chatni added the flavor, spice and hara bhara texture I needed to the rice.
Here’s how to make it:
Haray Bharay Spinach Rice Recipe – Fast & Easy
Ingredients:
- Rice – 1½-2 cups
- Spinach – 2 bunches or 500 grams (boiled)
- For Green Chatni:
- Fresh Coriander Leaves – 1 bunch
- Mint Leaves – 1 bunch
- Green Chilies – 4
- Cumin Seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Chicken Cubes – 2
- Red Chili Powder – 1 teaspoon
- Garam Masala Powder – 1 teaspoon
- Garam Masala (Saabit) – 1 tablespoon (cloves, ilaichi, bari alichi, cumin, dar cheni, black pepper, tez patta)
- Yogurt – 4 tablespoons
- Onion – 1 medium (finely sliced)
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
Ingredients:
- Rice – 1½-2 cups
- Spinach – 2 bunches or 500 grams (boiled)
- For Green Chatni:
- Fresh Coriander Leaves – 1 bunch
- Mint Leaves – 1 bunch
- Green Chilies – 4
- Cumin Seeds – 1 teaspoon
- Chicken Cubes – 2
- Red Chili Powder – 1 teaspoon
- Garam Masala Powder – 1 teaspoon
- Garam Masala (Saabit) – 1 tablespoon (cloves, ilaichi, bari alichi, cumin, dar cheni, black pepper, tez patta)
- Yogurt – 4 tablespoons
- Onion – 1 medium (finely sliced)
- Oil – 2 tablespoons
Instructions:
- Wash the rice and soak while you prepare the rest
- Blend fresh mint and coriander leaves with green chilies, cumin seeds and half a cup of water to make green chatni. Once it is blended into a puree, strain the water with a sieve
- Wash spinach thoroughly, then boil and chop it roughly
- In a pot, heat the oil and saute the onions until they become crisp and light brown
- Add chicken cubes and garam masala
- Saute until the chicken cubes start crackling. Add some water to avoid burning the onions
- Add the chopped spinach and let it saute for about a minute before adding the blended green chatni and yogurt
- Give it a good mix, add red chili powder and garam masala powder as the spinach simmers. Let it cook until the water dries and the oil rises to the top
- Add 3 cups of water to the masla and let it come to boil
- Once the water starts boiling, add rice and let it cook on a high flame until the water dries completely
- Lower the flame, cover with the lid and let it simmer for 5 to 10 minutes
- Serve hot with raita and aloo ghost (meat and potato curry)
