Ya ya, it is spinach, second it is pureed and thirdly it looks like something a baby threw up. Popeye didnt really do a great job either in getting kids to eat their spinach. Maybe this spiced, sour, hot version might.. gv it a try with hot rice, pasta, naan, capati or thosai or even garlic bread. But pureed stuff must be eaten as simply as possibly to get the maximum benefit.
Bought RM2 worth of kampung bayam from a Gandhi worshipping old Malay man at the pasar malam. "Did you know Gandhi was a vegetarian?" he asks me. Duh. Anyway, the greens looked super fresh (farm) fresh and minus the pesticides.
Lugged it home and chopped off the soil covered roots before soaking them in a large bowl of tap water for 5 minutes to losen whatever soil grains left. Rinse 3-4 times till there are no more sediments in the rinse water.
For the puree, boil a handful of gram dhall with 2 cups water. When half cooked, throw in the greens, starting with the stalky ends first and 5 mins later the leafy part. For the spices you need, prepare 5 cloves crushed garlic, a marble sized ginger, 2 onions chopped, a tsp each of coriander, cumin and its bigger cousin, jeera or aniseed and of course, mustard seed. You also need a handful of dried and fresh red chillies for heat, you decide how much you want or none at all. A tbsp dollop of really fragrant high quality ghee.. (no compromises) it decides the quality of your puree. I used Leila ghee (Sime Darby) which is super aromatic. Heat up ghee and toast all of the prepared stuff. 1 min.. and empty them into the 3/4 cooked spinach. Sprinkle fresh curry leaves and a diced tomato. Squeeze in a lime. Salt as you like. No more water is needed coz the vegetable sweats. Switch off, while the greens are still green in colour and not turned some brown mush. Transfer to a dish and cool off.
About 10 mins later, load into a blender, add like a couple of spoonsful of boiled water if you need too and blend a few seconds. I like to keep it rustic plus overblending will give it a metallic taste which is offputting.
There.. a bowlfull of natural goodness.
A spoonful of powerpacked and more importantly natural vitamins, minerals and above all.. iron. How can you even compared this to those lame overpriced tablets off the pharma shelves?
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