Soppina Huli (Spinach in Coconut Sambar Gravy)

  Soppina Huli (tangy and spicy curry of greens) is a karnataka favorite coconut based sambar curry. It is that kind of a curry where you want to lick off the whole plate and then continue doing so off your fingers :):) before you give out a burp :):) Soul satisfying indeed.

The blend of whole spices with grated coconut along with tamarind pulp and jaggery makes this a unique dish. Lastly the ultimate stupendo- fantabulous tempering acts like a showstopper to take this curry's taste to another level. It goes very well with rice, roti, idlis, dosa etc. Beautiful part of this preparation is you can use any major green leafy vegetable or a combination of it. You can also makes use of squashes, potatoes, pumpkin, turnips etc!

I have used spinach in my curry preparation. Traditionally this is made with amaranth leaves (lal bhaji, keera), or mix of amaranth leaves, dill leaves, spinach etc. So feel free to use whatever you have at hand and make this delicious curry.

One morning as I was getting out of my bed, I thought of making spinach curry using coconut (something different than usual) with rice and plantain sabji. I was sipping on my tea while browsing through my instagram pics, came across Sia's recipe of harive soppina huli from monsoon spice blog. I couldn't think beyond that, I had to make the curry. Eyes set, mind set all I had to do was execute it.

I have also purchased this Instant Pressure Pot an Electric Multi-functional pressure cooker, during black friday sale and I was in a mood to start experimenting with it. So that was that... droolicious curry in IP pot :) Came out fantastic.....:)

I have mentioned how to make this dish in both ways, Stove top and IP way.

Without any further delay, let us take a look at this Soppina Huli Recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb frozen spinach (or fresh)
• 1/2 cup yellow moong dal soaked for 15 minutes (1 cup if already cooked) - Originally toovar dal is used but I use yellow moong dal in most of my cooking.
• 15 cherry tomatoes or  (3 medium tomatoes)
• 4-5 large cloves of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed
• 1/2 tbsp jaggery (adjust as per taste)
• 1 tsp turmeric powder (haldi)
• 1/4 tsp asafoetida (hing) (Optional)
• salt to taste

For Coconut Paste:

• 3/4 cup grated coconut (fresh or frozen)
• 1 large marble sized tamarind pulp or ¾ tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds (dhania)
• 3-5 dry red chillies
• 1/4 tsp black peppercorns
• 1 1/2 tsp urad dal (split blackgram dal)
• 1 1/2 tsp chana dal (split chickpeas)
• 1 inch cinnamon stick 
• 3-4 cloves
• 1/2 tbsp oil (optional coconut oil)

For Tadka/Tempering: (to bring that authentic taste)- one can skip it to keep it simple and subtle.

• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 4-6 large cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp mustard seeds (rai)
• 2 dry red chillies broken into pieces
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• few curry leaves
• pinch of asafoetida (hing)
• 1 tbsp oil (preferably coconut oil)

Preparation:

Method 1: Using Instant Pot:

 

• Keep yellow moong dal soaked for 30 minutes, drain out the water and keep aside.
• Keep frozen spinach aside (ready to use). If you have fresh spinach, clean, wash, chop roughly and keep aside.
• Get your wet coconut curry paste ready by heating 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, urad dal, chana dal, black pepper and dry red chillies. Roast them on medium flame for about a minute or two until the spices are nicely roasted and change color. 
• Transfer the roasted spices to the mixer or food processor jar and add freshly grated or frozen coconut and tamarind pulp. Add about 1/4 -1/2 cup of water and grind it to a smooth thick paste. Keep it aside.
• Start your Instant pot and put it on saute mode. 
• Once the indicator turns on, add oil, add garlic cloves, stir quickly, add tomatoes and stir again for a minute, add turmeric, jaggery, hing, saute quickly for few seconds.
• Now dump the frozen spinach into it. Also add the yellow moong dal and pour the wet coconut masala into it. Add 1-2 cups of water to thin it out, mix everything and add salt. 
• Close the lid. Change the setting from saute to Manual mode. And set it for 10 minutes. ( If you have moong dal that is already cooked, then set the timing to 5 minutes)
• Let it release the steam by natural process (NPR). It will take about 15 minutes.
• Open the lid, stir everything again and your curry is ready. Adjust water and salt accordingly.
• If you want to keep the curry simple, there is no need for additional tadka. 
• But to get that authentic taste and extra flavors you will have to add this fantastic tadka to it.
• Prepare the tadka by heating oil in a pan. Once hot, add the sliced garlic and fry them until they turn golden brown. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli. As the mustard seeds pop and splutter, add hing and curry leaves and fry them for 15-20 seconds. Next add the thinly sliced onion and sauté until they turn golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, on medium flame. 
• Turn off the flame and transfer the tadka to the spinach gravy and cover with the pot so that the flavors stay in. 
• Enjoy this fantastic soul comforting Soppina Huli gravy with rice or any kind of flat bread. Add a dollop of ghee over it for ultimate pleasure :):)

Method 2: On the stove top

• Wash the spinach bunch thoroughly and separate the leaves from stems. Chop it roughly and keep aside. Place the chopped leaves and stems in a pressure cooker pan along with washed tomatoes, turmeric, jaggery, peeled garlic cloves and salt to taste.
• Wash the moong dal, add the dal to pressure cooker pan along with spinach leaves. Add about 5 cups of water, close the lid and pressure cook on medium flame for 3-4 whistles.
• Peel and slice the onion and garlic cloves for tadka and keep them aside until needed.
• Prepare the coconut paste. Heat 1/2 tbsp of coconut oil in a pan and add cinnamon stick, cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, urad dal, chana dal, black pepper and dry red chillies. Roast them on medium flame for about a minute or two until the spices are nicely roasted and change colour.
• Transfer the roasted spices to mixer or food processor jar and add freshly grated or frozen coconut and tamarind pulp. Add about 1/4 -1/2 cup of water and grind it to smooth thick paste. Keep it aside.
• Once the dal is cooked, gently open the lid once the pressure is released completely. Mash the dal and tomatoes with a help of a masher or with the back of ladle. Place the pan on the gas and bring the dal to gentle boil on medium heat.
• Add the coconut paste and about 2-3 cups of water depending on how thick you prefer the gravy to be. Adjust the seasonings and reduce the heat to low to let the gravy simmer for 8-10 mins.
• As the gravy is simmering, prepare the tadka by heating oil in a pan. Once hot, add the sliced garlic and fry them until they turn golden brown. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chilli. As the mustard seeds pop and splutter, add hing and curry leaves and fry them for 15-20 seconds. Next add the thinly sliced onion and sauté until they turn golden brown, about 2-3 minutes, on medium flame.
• Turn off the flame and transfer the tadka to the simmering gravy. Mix well and turn off the flame. Cover and let the gravy rest for 10-15 minutes for the flavours to blend well.
• Enjoy this fantastic soul comforting Soppina Huli gravy with rice or any kind of flat bread. Add a dollop of ghee over it for ultimate pleasure :):)

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

You may also enjoy other greens and leafy vegetable curries like:

Lal Bhaji (Amaranth leaves curry), 

Methichi bhaji, 

Mooli pachadi, 

Palak Paneer,

Vali Bhaji (Vietnamese Spinach Coconut Curry) etc

Health Benefits: 

Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties.

Sai Bhaji (Sindhi Cuisine)

Sai bhaji is an excellent dish that comes from the Sindhi Cuisine. I am always looking out for nutritious leafy vegetable recipes and this one tops the list with the greens. It gives you enough flexibility to use a variety of vegetables along with a variety of greens, where basically spinach leads the pack. I have tried just a few recipes from Sindhi cuisine and have loved all of it. Lauki Chana sabji, Aloo methi tuk, Koki roti, Sindhi kadi, Sindhi biryani etc.

Sai means green and bhaji means vegetable. Sai bhaji is basically a mashed mixture of spinach, dill, methi, bengal gram dal, eggplant, yam, tomatoes, potato, onion etc. The blend you get in the end is very tasty and nutritious, a very soul-satisfying comfort dish indeed! The best part is it is a one pot meal. Start with a tempering in a pressure cooker and add all the vegetables. Pressure cook it for few whistles and your dish is ready in no time.

 It is one of those dishes where if your kid takes a liking don't think twice, make it once a week :) Because there is no better way to get those nutrients into his/her system without any fuss. I am glad I got lucky with this one (knocking on wood), though I have to be careful about not getting chunks of eggplant into my kid's plate, that goodness is all for the mommy and daddy :)

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of spinach
• 2 tbsp fenugreek leaves (or 1 tbsp dry fenugreek leaves)
• 1 tbsp dill leaves
• 2 tomatoes 
• 1 onion sliced
• 2 small eggplant big cubes
• 2-3 okra
• 1/2 plantain cubed
• 1 small potato cubed
• 1/4th cup bengal gram dal (chana dal)
• 1 tsp coriander powder 
• 2-3 green chilies
• 1-2 inch ginger chopped
• 1/4th tsp turmeric pwd
• salt to taste
•  2-3 tsp oil

Preparation:

• Chop leafy vegetables roughly. Soak chana dal in water for 30 minutes and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pressure cooker, add ginger, onion, brinjal, potato, okra, plantain, gram dal and cook for just a few minutes till it is slightly tender. 
• Now add all leafy vegetables, tomatoes, powders, chilies and lightly saute everything. 
• Add little water till everything is just soaked. Close the lid and pressure cook for 5-6 whistles. Wait till the cooker cools down and lets out all the pressure. 
• Mash gently the mixture before serving. Adjust the consistency of the dish by adding a little water and serve hot with rice or rotis or pooris or koki.

You may also like Patal Spinach Peanuts curry, Lal Bhaji, KhatKhate, Vali Bhaji (Vietnamese spinach)...

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Notes:* You can add various vegetables in this dish like carrots, cauliflower, yam, arbi, potato etc. If you don't have dill leaves, you can skip and add an extra tomato to make it sour.

Seen in the plate: brown rice, fried tapioca fritters, and tomato poori.

Health Benefits: Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties. Addition of other vegetables will provide more minerals, vitamins, and protein( from chana dal).

Palak Shenga Patal Bhaji (Spinach/Peanuts Gravy)

Palak (Spinach) + Shenga (peanuts) + Chana Dal (Bengal gram) + Besan (gram flour) + few spices = A finger licking Spinach Peanuts Curry! This is one of the comfort curries that I make and enjoy with rice rotti (bhakari) or phulka. Once you see the recipe you will know that it is a soul-comforting dish.

I asked my kid to give me 3 sentences describing spinach ... now the first thing that comes out of his mouth is 'it is gross'! I had to reprimand him and then coax him to say nice things (he actually likes spinach:)) So then he gave me these simple lines: 1> It is green in color and is a leaf.
2> It is healthy, and then adds, 'well I have to say that, right?'  :)
3> I like it in my soup (only)
Well, I thought that was good enough for now!

Spinach is available all over the world and is said to be first grown in Persia. The best thing about this leaf is, it has a nice texture and contains no harsh taste, so you can easily manipulate its taste to your liking. It tastes great just in plain salads, or saute with garlic, mix with coconut milk or based masala, onion tomato gravy, you can make pakodas, throw it in soups, the famous palak paneer etc etc.

This recipe of spinach gravy is unique and tastes fantastic! It is more or less Maharashtrian style of preparation and was shared by another foodie Vidya Baindur who makes excellent thalis. Her thalis are the best in town and to die for! Thanks to her that I make this curry often and am happy to share it on my blog now.

Let us take a look at the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cups fresh palak chopped (or 1 cup of frozen palak)
• 2 tbsp peanuts
• 2 tbsp channa dal(bengal dal)
• pinch methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
• 1-2 green chillies (depending on hotness)
• pinch asafoetida
• 2 tbsp gram flour (besan)
• 1/2 tsp jaggery
• 1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
• salt as per taste
• 2 tsp oil

For tempering:

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 4-5 curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
• pinch haldi
• 1/4 tsp chilli pwd

Preparation:

• Soak peanuts and chana dal in little water for an hour. Drain the water and keep aside. 
• In a pressure cooker (or vessel), heat oil, add hing, methi seeds, green chillies and saute. Add palak leaves and saute further. Drop peanuts and chana dal, mix everything, add 1.5 cups water and cook for 1 whistle or till peanuts and chana dal is cooked if cooking in a vessel.
• Open the lid once the cooker cools down. 
• Mix besan in a little water to make a smooth paste. Add this mixture in palak while you stir. Add jaggery, salt, tamarind and bring to a boil, adjust water if needed (besan starts thickening the curry) and simmer for few minutes.
• Make a tempering/tadka by heating oil, add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, once it splutters add curry leaves, hing, turmeric, chilly pwd and pour over the spinach curry.
• Serve hot with bhakri, rice or roti!

You may also like methichi bhaji, lal (amaranth) bhaji, mooli pachadi, palak paneer..

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Health Benefits: Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties.

Palak Paneer

Palak(Spinach) Paneer(Indian Cheese) is a famous North Indian dish that is very delectable, smooth textured dry curry dish. Calorie for calorie, this leafy green spinach has a delicate texture and jade green color that provides more nutrients than any other food. It is available almost year around, and that is the best part. As a south-west Indian ( I refer myself like that:) ) while growing up, palak paneer used to be a very special kind of dish, we ate mostly only when we went to the restaurants.

After I got interested in cooking, I used to have a mind block with respect to this dish as I thought it is a laborious dish to make because I had to make paneer from the scratch, cleaning spinach was a task in itself as we used to get mud rooted leaves and all... But now spinach is available in a clean and ready to use form, paneer is readily available too. Life is getting simpler, faster, quicker :) and palak paneer has become a staple food(dish) in my house.

I simply love spinach. There are days where I just saute it plain with garlic, salt and pepper and devour, and I am not even kidding. Various dishes can be dished out using this superstar green leafy vegetable, such as Spinach chicken, Spinach juice, Spinach pesto, salad, Spinach puffs, Spinach roti, poori etc etc.

After I have started my blog, I have made it several times and now finally got a chance to photograph it and pen it down here.


Let us take a look at this recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 lb spinach leaves (palak) frozen (or fresh leaves chopped roughly around 4-5 cups)
• 2 cups paneer cut in squares
• 1 onion big finely chopped
• 5-6 garlic pods roughly chopped
• 2-inch ginger roughly chopped
• 2-3 green chillies chopped
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1/4 tsp black pepper powder
• salt as per taste
• 3-4 tbsp oil

Preparation:

• If using frozen palak, thaw it in a microwave or in warm water.
• In a pan, heat 1 tbsp oil and add green chillies, ginger, garlic and saute for a few seconds. Add palak leaves and mix everything. Cover and cook on med flame till the leaves wilt. 
• In a processor/blender make a coarse paste of this mixture and keep aside.
• In the same pan, add rest of the oil and add chopped onions, saute till translucent and add garam masala. 
• To this add the palak/spinach paste and cook for around 8-10 minutes, stirring in between. Add salt as per your taste. 
• Sprinkle salt and pepper lightly over paneer and you can shallow fry paneer separately on a grill(tava) or just gently add paneer pieces to the palak gravy.  Mix everything with a light hand. Simmer for another couple of minutes.
• Serve hot with rotis or with plain rice.  You can add a little bit of butter or drizzle heavy cream too while serving. 

njoY!! happY cooking!!

you may also enjoy leafy vegetables like methichi bhaji(fenugreek leaves vegetable) or mooli leaves (radish) pachadi

Health Benefits: Spinach has a high content of vitamin K and is useful for protein modification and plays an important role in protecting bones from osteoporosis. Spinach is also high in fiber, which helps break down food and keeps your digestive system moving.One cup of spinach is all you need to get a full day’s requirement of vitamin A. That’s good news for your tired eyes. Very rich in iron content, that’s why vegetarians and anemics are encouraged to eat lots of spinach for healthy blood and proper red blood cell production.If you are prone to asthma attacks or have difficulty breathing, include spinach in your diet. The beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, potassium and magnesium in spinach all have anti-asthmatic properties.

Spinach Pepperoni(turkey) Flag Pizza (Pastry Puff)

This is a gooey fun loaded pizza that you can bake with your kids and have a good time in the kitchen. I made this with pastry puff as a base and used spinach stirfry using garlic and oil along with mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce and turkey pepperoni. You can replace the pepperoni with tomato slices. It tastes soooo good!

You can indulge in this rich pastry and cheese-loaded pizza once in a while, like 4th of July as it has the deco of a FLAG:) An apt preparation for the day of independence to show strength, unity, freedom, peace and love!

So go get your pastry sheets and start rolling and baking :)

Without further ado, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 sheet of pastry puff
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3 tbsp of marinara sauce (or pizza sauce)
• 2 dozen of turkey pepperoni
• 1/2 cup frozen spinach
• 2 garlic pods minced
• salt/pepper as per taste
• mozzarella cheese cut into small bits/pieces
• 1 tsp olive oil

Preparation:

Thaw the pastry puff for 30 minutes on the counter. 
Preheat the oven to 400F/200C. Use a little olive oil to lightly coat the bottom of a baking sheet. Set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry dough to about 10” x 15”. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet. Fold the edges of the dough over to make a crust. Use a fork to gently poke holes throughout all of the dough. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 10 – 12 minutes or until golden brown.

In the meantime, heat oil in a pan, add garlic and saute quickly, add thawed spinach and cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat till all the water evaporates. Keep aside.
Remove the dough from the oven and spread spinach mixture on the top left corner in a square pattern. Drop mozzarella cheese bits in between the spinach patch to make it look like stars :)

Spread the marinara sauce evenly on the pastry dough.  Add mozzarella cheese and place the turkey-pepperoni in 3 straight lines. 

Place the baking sheet back in the oven for 8 more minutes or till cheese melts. Broil for a minute to get that nice brown spots on cheese.
Enjoy your 4th of July Flag Pizza with your family!

njoY!! happY cookinG!!

recipe idea adapted from Giada Laurentiis.