Aloo Palak is healthy, gluten-free, vegan, and easy to whip up using a handful of fresh ingredients. This simple Spinach and Potato recipe will win your hearts! Eat it as is, or with flatbread for a wholesome meal.
Aloo Palak-Indian Spinach and Potatoes
Aloo translates to Potato and Palak translates to Spinach. The combination of spinach and potato is truly out of this world delicious.
My Ammi made aloo palak during the Spring a lot. This recipe was her favorite way to feed us spinach. Aloo palak mixed with Dal chawal takes the meal to the next level. I promise!
I’ve tried cooking Aloo Palak in many different ways but my Ammi's method of cooking aloo palak sabzi is the way I like it best. This recipe is super easy to follow and tastes phenomenal.
What's in This Spinach Potato Recipe?
No fancy ingredient hunting is needed for this delicious recipe. All the ingredients are easily found at any major grocery store throughout the US. Spices can be purchased from the Amazon store.
Produce:
- Spinach: any variety of spinach is great for this recipe. I like to use baby spinach from Costco. Large leafy spinach with stems from a regular store is great as well.
- Potato: I like using gold potatoes or red potatoes for this recipe. I have tried russet/Idaho potatoes but I did not appreciate the texture of it with spinach.
- Tomato: vine tomatoes or Roma tomatoes are great. I like diced tomatoes for this recipe.
- Onion: diced yellow onion or shallot is a great option.
- Garlic: I love adding lots of roughly chopped garlic to this recipe. For each half pound of spinach, I use 4 cloves of garlic.
- Ginger: freshly grated ginger gives a delicious savory flavor to this recipe.
Spices:
- Kashmiri Chili Powder: following my mother's footsteps, I only use Kashmiri chili powder for Indian cooking. The flavor and beautiful color of Kashmiri chili powder are hands down the best.
- Cumin-Coriander Powder: I make homemade cumin-coriander powder. Indian stores usually carry cumin-coriander powder separately. That's why I always keep separate measurements for them in all of my recipes. Let me know in the comments if you would like me to share the cumin-coriander powder recipe.
- Turmeric: turmeric powder is a must-have for Indian cooking.
- Salt: I like using pink salt. It has a beautiful earthy & pungent flavor to it. Table salt or Kosher salt is fine as well. You might need to adjust the salt measurements accordingly.
- Cumin Seeds: adding cumin seeds is optional but I highly recommend them for tempering.
How to Make Aloo Palak:
- Heat the oil on medium-high heat and add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to change color add diced onions and whole red chilies. Cook onion until it becomes slightly golden for about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the onion is slightly golden, add roughly chopped garlic and grated ginger to the pan. Sautee ginger & garlic for a few seconds. We don't want the garlic to turn brown at all.
- Add diced tomatoes and all the powdered spices and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat while stirring in between the cooking until tomatoes soften.
- Add cubed potatoes now. Mix well until potatoes are coated with sauce. Turn the heat down to low. Cover the pan and cook on low for 7-9 minutes or just until potatoes are tender.
- Uncover and check the potatoes in between cooking. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons of water to speed up the cooking process.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add all the roughly chopped spinach. Cover the pan and let the spinach wilt for easy mixing.
- Uncover the pan and mix everything gently. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until all the water from spinach completely evaporates. Takes about 3-5 minutes depending on your stove.
Tip for Spinach-Potato:
- Baby spinach cooks faster than large leafy spinach. I have used baby spinach for this recipe. Large leafy spinach has more water content as well. Ensure the cooking time accordingly.
- Cooking the potatoes in oil and tomato sauce gives the best taste to this recipe. Cut the potatoes into small size pieces to speed up the cooking. I do not recommend adding preboiled potatoes. They will become a mushy mess and they won't soak up the wonderful flavors of tomatoes, onion, and spices either.
- Use a large heavy-bottomed pan for cooking spinach. Spinach requires good space to wilt and become ¼ of its original size. Also, it is easier to mix the sauce and spices in a large pan.
What to Serve Aloo Palak with:
Aloo palak is more of a stir-fried like curry. It is a loved and adored vegetarian dish in India. Indians love serving aloo-palak with flatbread and Dal Chawal.
Make dal tadka and plain rice to go with Aloo-Palak. You might like my other Indian recipes as well.
Aloo Palak | Indian Spinach Potato Recipe
Aloo Palak-Indian spinach and potato recipe is healthy, gluten-free, vegan, and easy to whip up using a handful of fresh ingredients. Great recipe for meals under 30 minutes! Eat it as is or with flatbread for a wholesome meal.
Ingredients
- 1 pound baby spinach , roughly chopped, prewashed baby spinach or 2 bunches of thoroughly washed and stems removed spinach
- 3 medium vine tomatoes , diced
- 3 medium Yukon gold potatoes or red potatoes , peeled, washed, and cut into about ½ inch thick cubes
- 1 medium yellow onion , peeled and diced
- 8 roughly chopped garlic cloves , roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger
- 3 tablespoons olive oil , or mustard oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried whole red chilies
- ½ teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 ½ tablespoons coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon pink salt , or table salt to taste
- 1 ½ tablespoons Kashmiri chili powder
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1-2 tablespoons water , if needed
Instructions
- Heat the oil on medium-high heat and add cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to change color add diced onions and whole red chilies. Cook until onion becomes slightly golden for about 2-3 minutes.
- Once the onion is slightly golden, add roughly chopped garlic and grated ginger to the pan. Sautee ginger & garlic until fragrant, takes only a few seconds. We don't want the garlic to turn brown at all.
- Now add diced tomatoes, all the powdered spices, and salt to taste. Cook on medium heat while stirring in between the cooking until tomatoes soften.
- Add cubed potatoes once tomatoes are soft. Mix well to coat the potatoes with sauce. Turn the heat down to low and cover the pan.
- Cook on low for 7-9 minutes or just until potatoes are tender. Uncover and check the potatoes in between cooking. If needed add 1-2 tablespoons of water to speed up the cooking process.
- Once the potatoes are tender, add all the roughly chopped spinach. Cover the pan and let the spinach wilt for easy mixing. Takes less than 1 minute for spinach to start wilting with the cover.
- Uncover the pan and mix everything gently. Turn the heat up to medium and cook until all the water from spinach completely evaporates. Takes about 3-5 minutes depending on your stove.
- Serve with warm with dal, rice, and flatbread.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 174kcal ,Carbohydrates: 17.4g ,Protein: 4.9g ,Fat: 11.3g ,Saturated Fat: 1.6g ,Sodium: 683mg ,Potassium: 984mg ,Fiber: 4.9g ,Sugar: 1.9g ,Calcium: 132mg ,Iron: 4mg
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Kristina says
Just made your recipe and it is lovely! I have made this before but I like how you are very generous with the spinach. For visual interest and flavor depth I added a dollop of light sour cream onto the top. It was wonderful with the mild chili spice and combo with baby spinach. So good.
FeastwithSafiya says
Hi Kristina, your comment made my day! Thank you so much for trying my recipe. A dollop of sour cream sounds phenomenal. I will have to try it.
m says
Thank you for sharing!