Easy Oil Free Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry)!
Creamy, cozy, and flavorful, this Easy Oil Free Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry) recipe is a simple Indian dish made with wholesome spinach, starchy potatoes, and fragrant Indian spices. Boasting healthy ingredients, this dish is a sure-fire way to get some extra iron and nutrients in your diet. It pairs well with rice, flatbreads, or any number of sides.
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
Do you love spinach and potatoes? If yes, then you will love this healthy nod to the Indian dish, Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry). Nutrient-dense spinach, hearty potatoes, and aromatic spices creates a deliciously comforting dish. We throughly enjoyed the flavors and textures.
You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: This Whole Food Plant Based recipe is a nod to the classic Indian dish Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry). It is an oil free dish where tender boiled potatoes bathe in a flavorful spinach sauce brimming with Indian herbs and spices.
- Oil-Free Recipe: This is an oil-free recipe. Because of this, you may not fully experience the smooth flavor of the Indian spices. We just want the reader to be aware of this. This recipe is very delicious for what it is and that is an oil-free nod to a traditional Indian dish.
- Lite Unsweetened Coconut Milk (canned): You can also use unsweetened plain plant milk, but you will need to adjust the spices (not use as much) as the light coconut milk (from a can) is thicker and has more flavor than plain unsweetened plant milk. Light Unsweetened Coconut Milk (canned) is Whole Food Plant Based compliant while full fat unsweetened coconut milk is not.
- Can of Mild Green Chiles: We could not locate a green chile pepper that traditionally goes into this dish, so we opted to use a 4 oz. can of mild green chiles, drained. If you have a green chile available, then seed and finely dice and add when sautéing the onions.
- Petite Diced Tomatoes: We used a 14 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes which we drained and lightly rinsed.
- Fresh Baby Spinach: We used a 5 oz. container of fresh baby spinach. The spinach is divided in half. Half of the spinach goes into the high-speed blender and the other half is finely chopped and added to the spinach sauce for a little texture.
- Frozen Spinach: You can use frozen spinach in this dish; however, be sure to thaw completely, heat, then squeeze out the liquids before adding to the recipe. Since frozen spinach has a more mature flavor, you may wish to cut back on the amount used.
- Spices: Feel free to ramp up on your favorite spices or reduce accordingly to suit your own preferences.
- Fenugreek Seed Powder: This ingredient is optional. If you have it on hand, use a pinch.
- Baby Potatoes: We tested with both regular potatoes and baby potatoes. We loved how the baby potatoes looked for aesthetic purposes only. They do take extra time to peel. It is not necessary to use baby potatoes. If you do use them, we used about 30 small, peeled baby potatoes.
- Boiling the Potatoes: Watch the potatoes carefully toward the end of their boiling time as you do not want to overcook them. To test a potato, simple remove a large cube (or larger baby potato) and run it under cold water, bite test for tenderness. When the potatoes are just tender, gently strain and rinse. You don’t want them to break apart. When adding to the spinach sauce, gently stir to coat and allow to sit in the sauce to absorb the flavors.
- Rinsing the Potatoes in Cold Water: The reason we rinse the potatoes in cold water is because it firms up the outer layer of the potato making it less likely to fall apart in the sauce (even after they are reheated in the sauce).
- Leftover Refrigerated Boiled Potatoes: If you have leftover refrigerated boiled potatoes, these are great to use in this recipe. Simple cube and add to the spinach sauce. Gently simmer until heated through.
- Cayenne Pepper: The cayenne pepper is essential to this recipe. It adds that little bit of extra flavor kick. We do not recommend leaving it out. If concerned about the heat, then start on the low end and build up. We also recommend leaving it out until near the end so that you can fully appreciate the flavor profile and adjust any seasonings as needed before adding it at the end.
- Garam Masala: Garam Marsala spice blends vary greatly with some accenting different spices over others. Feel free to use your favorite spice blend of Garam Masala.
- High-Speed Blender versus Food Processor: We recommend using a high-speed blender if you have one available. You can also use a food processor with the understanding that the spinach sauce will not be as smooth and will have more texture.
- Better the Next Day: This is one of those dishes that taste even more amazing the next day after the spices have marinated in the fridge.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container.
This dish can be frozen.
Pantry Products Used:
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
Kitchen Products Used:
- Large stock pot or skillet
- Medium stock pot (for boiling the potatoes)
- High-speed blender (or food processor)
If you try this aromatic dish, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Easy Oil-Free Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry)
- Prep Time: 15 Minutes
- Cook Time: 40-50 Minutes
- Total Time: 55 Minutes
- Yield: 4 Servings 1x
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Creamy, cozy, and flavorful, this Easy Oil Free Aloo Palak (Potato Spinach Curry) recipe is a simple Indian dish made with wholesome spinach, starchy potatoes, and fragrant Indian spices.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 5 to 6 cups, potatoes, peeled, ½ inch cubes *
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
Blender Ingredients:
- 1 – [ 14 oz. can ] petite diced tomatoes, drained and rinsed *
- 1 – [ 4 oz. can ] mild green chiles, drained *
- 1 ¼ cups light coconut milk *
- 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup
- 5 oz. fresh baby spinach (divided)
Spice/Herb Ingredients:
- 1 ¼ teaspoons cumin (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon garam masala (+/-)
- ½ teaspoon curry powder (+/-)
- ¼ teaspoon coriander (+/-)
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric (+/-)
- Pinch fenugreek seed powder (+/-) (optional) *
- Pinch to ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ to 1 ¼ teaspoons sea salt (+/-) *
Instructions
- Place the Spice/Herb Ingredients in a small bowl, mix well, set aside.
- Peel and dice the potatoes, place them in a medium-sized stock pot covered with cold water. Add a sprinkle of sea salt. Boil just until tender, approximately 10 to 13 minutes, drain, rinse, and set aside.
- In a large stock pot (or skillet), add the diced onions, sauté over medium heat until they begin to soften, approximately 7 to 9 minutes. Add a couple of tablespoons or so of water if they start to stick and/or to prevent burning.
- Add the minced garlic and ginger, sauté for one minute. Remove from the stove, set aside.
- Place all the Blender Ingredients (using ½ of the baby spinach, 2.5 oz.) into a high-speed blender along with the sauteed onions, garlic, and ginger. Blend on high until smooth and emulsified, about one minute.
- Pour the blender spinach sauce back into the pot.
- Finely chop the other half of the fresh baby spinach (2.5 oz.) and add to the spinach sauce along with the Spice/Herb Mix. Simmer on low for 15 minutes.
- When the potatoes are just tender, drain, rinse the potatoes with cold tap water, then add to the spinach sauce. Gently mix. Allow to simmer on low for 5 minutes to allow the potatoes to absorb some of the spinach sauce, then serve and enjoy.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 4
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