Palak Puri & Quick Tomato Chutney

Palak puri (spinach puffed breads) pairs perfectly with a quick spicy-sweet tomato chutney for a wholesome and delicious meal. Our Rotito Rolling Board makes rolling and shaping these puris easy and effortless.

Puris or pooris are deep-fried whole-wheat breads commonly eaten for breakfast or dinner in Indian households. Kids especially love puris because they puff up beautifully with a crisp exterior. Paired with a simple vegetable chutney or curry, it makes for a delicious, wholesome meal.

The Rotito Rolling Board is perfect for rolling Indian flatbreads like roti, chapati and puri. The textured surface provides excellent grip for rolling out dough, with less oil or dusting flour required. Versatile and strong, it can also serve as a cutting or chopping board.

To make palak puri, we begin by blanching a bunch of fresh spinach leaves. You can use frozen spinach too, but fresh is always better. Quickly blanch the spinach leaves in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Drain the blanched leaves and puree with a small piece of ginger and a green chili.

Mix the spiced spinach puree with finely milled whole-wheat flour (atta) to make a smooth but tight dough. The dough must be firmer than a regular roti dough, otherwise the puris won’t puff up and may absorb too much oil when fried. Once you have the palak puri dough, pinch small balls from it and roll out evenly to a small circle.

Look how beautifully the palak puri puffs up. And, that natural green color is a hit with both kids and adults. The neat thing about this recipe is that if you have kids who are picky eaters, they won’t even mind that the dough is made with spinach. You can make other colored vegetable-laced puris with beetroot or carrot puree as well.

A great combination to these spinach puris is a quick tomato chutney. Onions, ginger, garlic and tomatoes are cooked down with spices and a bit of brown sugar to make this delicious spicy-sweet chutney. This is a super easy stove-top recipe and keeps well for a couple of days in the fridge. You can omit the sugar if you want to keep it extra spicy, but the spicy and sweet combo is a unique twist on the classic Indian chutney.

Serve palak puri and tomato chutney for a quick weeknight family meal or whenever you have special guests around. It can be eaten any time of the day and is enjoyed by everyone.

Palak Puri & Quick Tomato Chutney

Recipe by Anjana DevasahayamCourse: Main CourseCuisine: Indian

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

1

hour 

Cooking time

20

minutes

Ingredients

• PALAK PURI

• Spinach – a big bunch

• Green chili – 1, small

• Ginger – a half-inch piece

• Salt – 1 tsp

• Atta or whole-wheat flour – 2 cups (plus a little extra for dusting)

• Vegetable or canola oil – for deep-frying

• QUICK TOMATO CHUTNEY

• Ripe red tomatoes – 4, large

• Oil – 2 tbsp

• Cumin seeds – 1/2 tsp

• Red onion – 1, chopped

• Ginger – 1 tsp, grated

• Garlic – 2 cloves, chopped

• Green chili – 1, chopped

• Red chili powder – 2 tsp

• Cumin powder – 1 tsp

• White vinegar – 1 tsp

• Brown sugar – 1 tbsp

• Salt – to taste

• Cilantro leaves – 2 tbsp, chopped

Directions

• PALAK PURI
• Blanch the spinach leaves in a big pot of boiling water for 2 minutes.
• Drain the leaves and puree with green chili, ginger and salt in a blender.
• Take the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the spinach puree , a little at a time, and start mixing with your hands to form a dough. If the dough doesn’t come together after adding all the puree, use some water.
• Knead the dough for a few minutes to make a smooth but tight dough. Brush some oil on the dough and keep covered with a clean kitchen towel for 15 minutes.
• Pinch lime-sized balls from the dough. Dust each dough ball lightly with flour and roll evenly to make a 4″ or 5″ circle on the Rotito Rolling Board. Keep rolled puris on a lined baking sheet.
• Heat oil in a medium-sized kadai or saucepan. Use enough oil to comfortably submerge the puri while frying.
• Test the oil by dropping a small piece of dough into it. If it sizzles and rises up immediately, the oil is hot enough. Gently slide a rolled puri into the oil. Using a large slotted spoon, gently submerge the puri in the oil, this allows it to puff up evenly. Flip the puffed puri and cook the other side for a few seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain excess oil on paper towels. Repeat for the rest of the puris.
• Serve hot puris along with the tomato chutney.
• QUICK TOMATO CHUTNEY
• Score the bottoms of the tomatoes with a sharp knife and blanch them in hot water for 2-3 minutes. Remove from water with a slotted spoon and peel their skins. Chop the tomatoes and set aside.
• Heat oil in a kadai or pan. Add cumin seeds and allow them to sizzle.
• Then add onions, ginger, garlic and green chilies and saute until onions are soft and fragrant.
• Now add the chili powder, cumin powder and chopped tomatoes. Stir and cook until tomatoes are very soft, 2-3 minutes.
• Add the vinegar, brown sugar, salt and chopped cilantro. Give it a quick stir, cook until gravy is thickened, and you begin to see the oil separating at the sides. Taste and adjust seasoning. If you like it sweeter, add more sugar.
• Remove to a serving bowl and serve with freshly made puris. Store leftover tomato chutney in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.

We hope that you will try the palak puri and quick tomato chutney recipes the next time you crave a delicious Indian meal. They are easy to make and simply delicious.

This article was written by our guest contributor Anjana Devasahayam, who runs the food blog At The Corner Of Happy & Harried. Anjana loves to create recipes for her family and friends, and she especially loves putting her unique twists on traditional recipes. You can also follow Anjana on Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter | Google+.