Palak Shorva | Cream of Spinach Soup • The Magic Saucepan

For the third day of the marathon, the ingredients are Greens and Milk. This recipe is also adapted from the cookbook "Classic Indian Cooking" by Julie Sahni. This book is a real classic. I have made many dishes following her recipe to the tee and never once failed. I love the way she has organized her book. It starts with explaining the essential ingredients and then the basic techniques one should know about Indian cooking followed by basic prep works and then course wise recipes. This book has all the information and written so efficiently that even an amateur in Indian cooking would find it more easier to follow. A lovely refreshing and appealing cream of spinach soup which is ideal for the summer months. This is a very filling soup that you can have this as a lunch or dinner by itself.

PALAK SHORVA | SPINACH SOUP

A refreshing and appealing cream of Spinach Soup. Ideal for the summer months.

Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 25-30 Mins | Total time: 40 Mins | Serves: 8

Ingredients

4 Tbsp Ghee or oil or butter
2 Cups Thinly sliced Onions
1 tsp Finely chopped garlic
1 tsp Ground cumin
¼ tsp Ground cloves
¼ tsp Ground nutmeg
¼ tsp Ground black pepper
4 Cups Broth / Stock / Water
¼ Cup Tightly packed cooked rice
1-½ Cooked spinach (recipe follows)
1 Cup Milk
¼ Cup Heavy Cream
Juice of ½ Lemon
½ Lemon thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cooking Spinach

In a deep pan bring water and salt to a rapid boil. Then add the washed and roughly chopped spinach and turn the flame to medium. Allow it to cook until they become tender, for about 3-5 minutes.
Then drain them in a colander placed in sink. Run it under a cold water in order to retain the dark green colour. Press out as much water as you can from the spinach and keep it aside.

Heat butter / oil in a pan over medium heat. Once they become smoking hot, add the cumin seeds and once they splutter add the onions and garlic and sauté them until the onions become tender. Keep stirring without burning the onions and garlic. Allow it to cool.
In a processor, purée the cooked rice with some water / broth. Add the cooked onions and spinach in the processor and purée them. Add broth / water as needed.
Return the purée to the pan, add the milk, salt, pepper and heat it through. If not serving it immediately, you can refrigerate it up to a day maximum)
Just before serving, add the cream and heat it until it is warmed through. Sprinkle some lemon juice and garnish it with lemon slices and some more black pepper.

Notes

The consistency of the soup should be thick. But if you want you can dilute by adding some more water or broth. Do not make it watery as it will not taste good and it will loose its texture.
Instead of cooked rice, you can even add 2-3 tablespoon of rice flour.

This is off to the third day of the blogging marathon 29, week 3 under the theme "Cooking from Cookbook". Check out the recipes of other blog marathon runners over here.

Comments

Chef Mireille says
June 17, 2013 at 3:31 am
I agree with your assessment of Julie Sahni. I have tried many recipes from the two books I have and they always work perfectly!
Priya Srinivasan says
June 16, 2013 at 5:09 pm
Awesome Green!! So healthy n nutritious!!!:) Adding Cooked rice to Soup, is totally new to me!!! I m off to check Julie Sahni's Book now!!! I m so tempted to buy it!! 🙂
Harini-Jaya R says
June 15, 2013 at 6:32 pm
Interesting addition of cooked rice. The cups look very inviting!
Archana Potdar says
June 15, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Awesome clicks and awesome recipe. Its bang at the time when its raining here. I hope I can make it soon! This will be most welcome after the drenching that we get here.
Srivalli says
June 14, 2013 at 9:15 am
I love those cute cups..and green is so bright!..nice dish Nisha..
Priya Suresh says
June 13, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Extremely tempting and very healthy shorva..
rekhas kitchen says
June 13, 2013 at 7:31 am
Like that thick and creamy palak soup nice color
Jayashree says
June 13, 2013 at 6:30 am
A healthy and tasty curry.....nice!!!
Usha says
June 13, 2013 at 3:08 am
I am doing the cookbook theme next week and this recipe on the my list. I too own Julie Sahni's "Classic Indian Cooking". I do not know if I will use this recipe or not but your pictures are tempting me to try it.
Pavani N says
June 13, 2013 at 2:45 am
Yumm!! Love that vibrant green color of the soup and all those spices must have made it taste awesome.. Will try.

Palak Shorva | Cream of Spinach Soup

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