Palak Badam Shorba (Spinach Almond Soup)

Blogging Marathon# 47: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Recipes from Menu Card
Dish: Palak Badam Shorba

We are starting 3rd week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Recipes from Menu Card'. Valli gave us a few menu cards to choose from and I picked the menu from Puranmal restaurant. We are supposed to pick dishes from 3 different courses, so I have 3 yummy restaurant style dishes coming up this week.

I love reading menu cards and even though in a non-Indian restaurant here in the US, there are probably just 3~4 vegetarian dishes that I might be interested, I still make sure to look at all the pages for good measure :-)

We hardly ever order soup at a restaurant, but if I see an interesting soup like this Palak-Badam Shorba I would probably order it to see how it tastes. So instead of spending the money at a restaurant, I made it right at home.
Almond butter is an ingredient that I always have in my fridge and that is what I used to thicken the soup. Alternately soaked and ground almonds can also be used. 

Ingredients: Serves 3~4

Spinach - 3cups frozen (or 6~8 cups fresh chopped spinach)
Onion - 1 small, chopped
Green Chili - 1~2, chopped
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely minced
Almond butter - 2tbsp (or soak 3tbsp almonds in warm water for 30 minutes and grind to a smooth paste)
Lemon juice - 2tbsp
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp butter or ghee and 2tsp oil in a saucepan, add garlic and cook till fragrant. Next add green chilies and onions; cook till onions turn translucent, about 3~4 minutes.
• Next add spinach. If using frozen spinach, then add 1cup of water and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer till the soup thickens a little bit. Add more water if the soup gets too thick.
• Using an immersion blender and grind till smooth. Alternately transfer the contents to a blender and grind until smooth.
• Return soup to pan and cook on low heat. Add almond butter and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and cook till the soup thickens a little bit. Finally stir in the lemon juice and remove from heat. Serve hot with some chopped almonds on top as garnish.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 47.