Cook's Hideout: Palakura Pulusu (Spinach Soup)

October 30, 2006

Palakura Pulusu (Spinach Soup)

I have been thinking of this recipe for quite a while now. With the scare on bagged spinach, I thought its better to be safe than sorry and didn’t buy spinach for almost 2 months. I bought a bunch from Indian store last weekend.
Palakura Pulusu

Palakura Pulusu
This is my grandmother (Dad’s mom) recipe and I had to call my mom for the exact ingredients and method. It is a very earthy, nutritious and low-fat dish.

Ingredients:
Spinach – 1 bunch, washed and chopped
Red onion – 1 medium, chopped
Green chilies – 4, chopped
Tamarind pulp – 2 tbsp
Rice flour – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste
For tempering (Tadka):
Mustard seeds – 1 tsp
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds (Menthulu) – ½ tsp
Dry red chilies – 2
Curry leaves – 4-5
Asafetida – a pinch

Method:
  • Take spinach and onions with 1 cup of water in a saucepan; cover and cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
  • Add green chilies, salt and tamarind juice (add ¼ cup water to tamarind pulp to make the juice); cook for 10minutes.
  • In the mean time, mix the flour with ¼ cup water to make slurry with no lumps. Add this to the spinach mixture and cook for another 5 minutes till the mixture is slightly thickened.
  • Remove from heat and add the tadka or tempering. For tempering, heat 1 tsp oil in a small saucepan, add all the ingredients listed, let the seeds splutter. Add this to the spinach mixture. Serve with rice.
Palakura Pulusu

Pictures updated: June 2013

8 comments:

  1. This is an interesting dish! I am looking for ways to increase my iron content and it seems like this is a good recipe to start. Thanks Pavani.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great recipie !! My love for spinach is endless, now I found a new way to make it, well its definetly on my "to-cook" list now.

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  3. Hi Pavani,
    In our house we call this dish as "Puli Vitta Keerai".Yours look nice. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pavani,
    Thanks for blogging this recipe. I am always in the look-out for more Spinach recipes, just because it is
    healthy and available. Should try it sometime. BTW, why are you scared of bagged spinach, just curious ?

    Cheers,
    Nav

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thanks Praveena, Do try it and let me know if you liked it.

    Thank you Anonymous and Menu Today.

    Hi Nav,
    Thanks for your comments. Do try it and let me know.
    About 2 months ago there was a outbreak of e-coli bacteria from bagged spinach causing few deaths across the U.S. Thank god its over now.(http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/10/06/tainted.spinach/index.html)

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  6. Pavani - the soup looks delicious. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. It looks wonderful. I miss spinach.

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  8. Hi Pavani,

    I have often made this pulusu as a substitute for the times when I do not get fresh thotakura.(My mom makes great thotakura pulusu)I put vegetables too,like bhindi,potato,sometimes pumpkin and drumstick.

    ReplyDelete

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