Bori diye Palong shaak bhaja / Stir fried Spinach with lentil dumplings

And Bappa is gone.
As I sit and type this post, I can see the Visharjan processions slowly moving down the road, one by one.
The air reverberates with the rhythmic beats of the drums, all over. Somewhere the Aarti is being played, signalling the start of Bappa's journey. The roads are covered with pink and red gulal.
People dressed up in traditional attires ... men in white kurtas and ladies in sarees ... accompany the vehicle carrying Lord Ganesh, dancing along.
I watch, quietly bidding Bappa adieu.
Ten days gone in a flash.

This year, the rain gods have played spoilsport. So Ganeshotsav was a slightly subdued affair.
I had a guest at home; so hardly noticed the festive days going by.
Going down to the aarti inside our society complex was by itself a task this time.

Today there is a little calm in the house.
Guest gone. Routine back.
Rains back, after a respite of two wee days.

These days I am on a mission of cleaning up all pending photographs and making posts of them.
Some of them are as old as two years back.
Or more.
I want to be done with them before I forget the actual recipe.
Thank god my recipes do not have much ingredients or complex processes ... so far I have been in stream all along.

These photographs of the Palong shaak with Bori have been in my folder for too long.
After selecting the few photos, they sat in my drafts again ... I think for around a month or so.
Hence I'll finish with these first.
I'm short of time today. So it will be a short write and an even shorter recipe.

Growing up I got to eat a good variety of leafy vegetables or shaaks.
But the only leafy vegetables that we get here are the palak or spinach, the methi or fenugreek leaves, some Amaranth and the dill.
That's all I guess.
So, after using the palak in gravies, dals and chorchoris, I sometimes make a bhaja or a stir fry out of it.
Some chopped onions for sweetness, as the palak is slightly salty on its own, some chopped garlic for flavour and some fried and crushed Boris thrown in, it turns into the perfect shaak bhaja to go on the side of with a little gorom bhaat or steamed rice.

Need :

Palong shaak / Palak / Spinach -  (washed well and chopped) 1 coffee mug ful
Onion - 1 medium, chopped
Garlic - 3 big sized cloves, chopped
Haldi / Turmeric powder - ¼ tsp 
Whole red chilles - 1, broken
Boris - 6 to 8 pieces
Mustard oil or any cooking oil - 2 tbsp
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch

How to :

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a kadahi or pan.
Let in the Bori s and stir fry on low heat till they turn brown.
Remove and keep aside.

Add 1 tbsp of oil to the same kadahi.
Add the whole red chillies and the onion.
Fry till onion turns translucent and the raw smell is gone.
Now add the chopped garlic and fry well.

Add the chopped palak, haldi, salt and sugar.
Stir well and cover.
Cook for around 5 minutes.
Remove cover and give a good stir.
Cook uncovered till all moisture disappears.
Crush the fried bori s lightly by hand and add to the palak.
Give a good stir.
Remove from heat.
Simple, wholesome shaak bhaja is ready.

 

Serve hot.
Goes great with steamed rice and some dal.
You can eat it with rotis too.

Enjoy!