Friday, January 28, 2011

My Favorite Spinach Dal of All Time

One of my favorite restaurants here in Pune is called Savera. It's on FC road, right across from the main gate to Fergusson College. It's a student hang out, so the atmosphere is quite casual, but the food is totally delicious. Also, they have south indian as well as north indian dishes... so all your culinary needs can be met in one fell swoop.

This the home of the AMAZING Spinach Dosa (aka Palak Dosa) which I previously mentioned in a different post. I finally got a more beautiful picture of it. Please don't drool all over your keyboard! The dosa is spread with an amazing paste of spinach. The bhaji mix has all the usual suspects : onions, turmeric, potatoes, mustard seeds etc... but also has fresh cashews and dried yellow raisins, both of which have a natural sweetness that balances perfectly with the astringent qualities of spinach. Sooooo good.

When you order a dosa, you always get a small bowl of sambar (a spicey - but not hot spicey - brothy soup) and a small bowl of coconut chutney. Each place has a different sambar recipe, and to tell you the truth, theirs is not my favorite. It's a bit sweeter than I like it - I think it's got more tamarind in it than others. Nonetheless, it's great to dip each dosa bite into the sambar and the coconut chutney. Sooooooo good.

You might notice a guest appearance in this picture of the titular Spinach Dal.

Here it is all by itself. It really does deserve its own picture. This stuff is THE BOMB. So spinachy, so cuminy, so garlicky, soooooooooo good. Just look how green it is! It is probably my favorite culinary experience of this trip. It is 100% up my alley. I love it so much that I begged and pleaded for the recipe...

...which I received!

You can see how overjoyed I am. The recipe is quite inexact (ex: Boil spinach. Boil Dal. Add cumin and garlic. etc). So I need to get home to my kitchen and do some experimenting and figure out the right quantities and such, but I promised to share my endeavors, as well as my final recipe with you once I have it down. As you can see from my beaming smile, it's worth the wait!

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous5:33 AM

    That is so pretty! My spinach curries always end up brownish. I'm so jealous that you got the recipe too!

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  2. That does look super amazing. I'm sure you'll do the "recipe" justice. Haha you do look incredibly excited :)

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  3. omg! that college town is serving you very well amey-friend. good grief. i have never seen nor heard of any kind of dosa like yours--and that potato mixture? wowowoowow. and you can eat the coconut chutney? i am jealous!
    safe travels home.
    xo
    kittee

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  4. jen hall9:07 AM

    Amey you are a rock star!!! That looks delicious. I am so amazed at how green their spinach dal often turns out. Do you remember that place down the road from our apartment where we went with Jacki Nett and I got that amazing green spinch dal..sooo goood!!!

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  5. Gabrielle9:48 AM

    That is one gorgeous dosa. I'm so excited for you that you got the recipe for the dal! I want some South Indian food!!!!!!!

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  6. The pictures of you with the owner and the recipe are TOTALLY ADORABLE!! The thrill of the chase and joy of success -- it reminded me of my finally obtaining the Year of the Rat decoration in China. We will happily be your guinea pig(s) as you try to recreate this recipe. XOXO

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  7. You always look happy but I've never seen you look so happy as you do getting that recipe! I can't wait until you get home!!!!!

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  8. That looks really delicious and vibrant. I can't wait to see the recipe!

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  9. Wow, you're exploding with happiness in that picture! Can't wait to see your end result.

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  10. Sounds so delicious! Congrats on nabbing the recipe. I can't wait to see your version of it. :)

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  11. You look so excited :) I really can't blame you. That's awesome! Can't wait to see your kitchen results.

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  12. Anonymous10:29 PM

    yummy! Looks fantastic, I can't wait for you to try it out and post the recipe. You do look pleased. :)

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  13. Dal is absolutely one of my favorite foods! That's awesome that you got the recipe, even if it's a loose one. Yum!!!

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  14. How sweet of them to give you the recipe! I just found your blog recently! Love it! I'm following you now :) Come check out my blog when you can :)

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  15. Anonymous9:52 AM

    Dear Amy,

    I know my comment is totally displaced, but I just have to get to you somehow :) (can't find your mailadress or contactfield anywhere)
    Im so amazed by the dishes you create and saw a little picture of your cookbook 2010 on veganbackpacker.com and plus the photos on your blog...I just fell in love with them and I'm so super curious about the recipes, and the sweetness of your drawings makes me want to skip through the pages of this lovely book.... :) I'm from poland but living in German, and would like to aks if there is ANY chance of buying your little cookbook and sending it to Germany????
    Sending you a big smile from Berlin,

    Agata

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  16. Hello!

    My name is Deya and I have a veg food blog that has been inspired by blogs like yours. Please take a peek. I hope you like it and will continue to visit to check out my food, and my delicious pictures (I'm constantly working on improving my skills). I would LOVE it if you also became a follower or added my blog to your roll, I have you on mine. Thank you!

    Deya
    http://thefoodonmyplate.blogspot.com/

    deyita@att.net

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  17. Heehee! That last picture of you so excited about your recipe is so cute! Happy foodie! :D

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  18. That spinach dal is such an amazing shade of green!

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  19. i came back to this post to inspect the palak dosa, i thin i'm gonna try my hand at one with roasted garlic. but i couldn't help myself, i cheated and blew up your spinach dal recipe. i'm gonna give it a try, i'm sure you know what jeera and dhania are, bubs! it's fun to read that and know just how to make it. have you tried it yet?

    xo
    kittee

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  20. That dosa makes me insane. Insane! It almost makes me regret all those masala dosas I ate in India. Who knew I should have been looking for a palak dosa instead?

    (By the way, thanks for your kind comments on my blog. I clicked over to yours only to realize I've been reading it for months now! I especially love your India posts!)

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