Keeping it Real. And Dreamcatchers

Spinach-Chicken Curry (Or Spinach Curry; or Spinach-Paneer Curry)

Last Thursday. I go to pick up the kids after school and football. 3pm. I get to school just fine, pick up the terribly excited kids, excited for no particular reason. End of the week, great day. Happy kids, talking nineteen to the dozen. We’re crawling along on the horribly busy highway – Thursdays are a bit of a nightmare. And suddenly the car dies. I mean, dies.  Just stops, all lights flashing. I try not to panic too hard (I know exactly nothing about cars) and pull over to the side of the road and call my husband. He, bless him, picks up the phone in the middle of his class, and of course, comes to our rescue.

We get home safe, about an hour and a half after we usually do. My husband gets to work on fixing the car. And I hit publish on my post for the week, thankful that I had had the chance to get it done earlier in the day.

Fast forward to this morning. I get in the car to drive my monkeys to school. And the bloody thing won’t start. It’s the other car this time; the one from last week is in the shop – just getting a spot painted. My husband’s fix of last week was perfect. Well this time, he thinks it’s the battery. I guess we can’t go to school, I tell my kids, after my husband takes a preliminary look and can’t think what it might be -because the battery apparently said it was fine. It’s way too early to take it anywhere to have it checked. And the kids burst into tears over all the fun things they’ll miss. Which speaks volumes for how much they enjoy school. I have the utmost much respect for elementary school teachers – in general, and the teachers my kids have (and have had), in particular. True superheroes.

Well my husband gets to work dealing with the car, while the kids and I resign ourselves to a day at home. There are times when the kids need to be left to their own devices (and mine are, more than not, great at entertaining themselves) and then there are times when they don’t. So to dispel the tears and gloom, I decide we can start making dreamcatchers. It was my daughter’s birthday last week, and one of her friends gave her a dreamcatcher-making kit. And she’d been waiting all week, an absolute eternity, to make it. The kids quickly get over their disappointment, and are (very vocally) thrilled at the fact that Mama is doing art with them, and that they get to work on (read: watch Mama working on) the dreamcatcher.

So is it just me, or do all parents think that most of these something-making kits are designed purely to torture parents? Because there is no way in hell a six-year old can follow the instructions provided. Heck, I couldn’t.  So we spend the next hour and a half – er – I spend the next hour and a half making the dreamcatcher, following the directions as best I could. Bloody hell. How on earth is a silly little arrow supposed to show me how to weave the thread in a certain way to create this pattern – the web? Not happening.

I mean…seriously???

But mama, maybe we could just do it the easier way (bottom part of picture), my son chimes in. My brilliant son. Not a bad idea, and so yes, we made it. Not quite the same, but you be the judge…and be kind, kinder than I am. My daughter is absolutely delighted and thinks it is gorgeous. And both kids are incredibly grateful. And I know that my husband and I are doing something right.

Our dreamcatcher, almost finished. Needs more feathers and more baubles. Yeah…I’ll be keeping my day job.

And while making it, my thoughts are on my unfinished post for this week – I work on them whenever I can over the course of the week, and then come to them in earnest on Thursday mornings. After dropping the kids off; it’s the only day I don’t teach.  My thoughts are also on a meeting that I have in a couple of hours that I need to prepare for. And emails I have to respond to. And on what other art projects I’ll need to work on during the day. And somewhere in the back of my mind is the fact that I haven’t had breakfast.

Back in August of last year, when I did my first post for this project, I began by describing myself. As a mother, a wife, a sociolinguist, and a lover of all things culinary. I am, first and foremost, a mother, on some days, more than others. And this morning was one of those times.

Well we were almost finished with the dreamcatcher when my husband came in and said he’d replaced the car battery (so apparently the battery hadn’t been fine after all) and it was now fine. So I drove two delighted kids (wow, art with Mama AND school!!) -  to school, an hour and a half late. And on my way back home, I thought about my unfinished post and wondered how I could squeeze in the time to finish it. And decided I couldn’t.

So I decided to keep it real and tell you about dreamcatchers instead. Because I didn’t want to not post anything.

OK, and to keep it really real, while making the dreamcatcher, perhaps most of all, my thoughts revolved around wishing it was 5:30pm, when I get to go out with a few girlfriends, go out to the first of a few celebrations for a rather big birthday I am having in a few weeks. To go out with girlfriends for the first time in more than two years. Why so early for a birthday that is still weeks away? Well first, why not? But more importantly, because Ramadhan starts this week, which means going out to celebrate with cocktails will be out of the question after today.

And on some days, more than others, a cocktail is, well, a must. Today is one.

So with that, I move straight to the recipe for this week. A spinach, or a spinach-chicken, or a spinach-paneer curry. The chicken version of dish is commonly called Saag-Murgh or Chicken Saagwalla in most North Indian restaurants, saag being a generic term for a green leafy vegetable. Over the years, this recipe has gone through many versions in my household. I most frequently make it with spinach, but also make it with fenugreek leaves. And if you want neither chicken nor paneer, it is a fantastic spinach dish all by itself, one that even my 9-year old has started eating.

Spinach with Chicken or Paneer

Ingredients (Serves 4 plain, or 4-6 with the chicken or paneer)

For the Spinach

1.     2 lbs fresh spinach, washed

2.     1½ cup finely diced onion

3.     2 Tbsp garlic

4.     2 Tbsp chopped ginger

5.     1 green chilli (or more, as per taste)

6.     1 tsp sugar

7.     2 Tbsp oil

8.     1 Tbsp cumin seeds

9.     1 tsp turmeric

10.  1 cup cilantro (while this might seem like a lot, it isn’t; the fragrance of the cilantro slightly cuts the earthiness of the spinach, and the combination is lovely)

11.  1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (if you like it spicier, you can use cayenne instead)

12.  1 tsp ground coriander

13.  1 tsp Chandri’s garam masala powder

14.  1 tsp salt

Method

1.     Boil the spinach, ½ cup of the onion, 1 Tbsp each of the ginger and garlic, the green chilli and sugar together with about ½ cup of water. Cook for about 5-7 minutes till the spinach is good and wilted. The other ingredients do not need to be well cooked at this stage.

2.     After 5-7 minutes, puree to a consistency of your choice. I have found that using an immersion blender is the best for this, as I don’t need to add any more liquid to blend it. I like the spinach mixture to have texture, so leave it a little chunky.

3.     Heat the oil in a skillet and add the cumin seeds and turmeric. When the seeds sizzle, add in the remaining 1 cup of onion, the remaining 1 Tbsp each of ginger and garlic and sauté for about 10 minutes on low-medium heat. You do not want the onions to caramelize here, just to soften and begin to get sweet.

4.     Now add the cilantro, salt, Kashmiri chilli powder, ground coriander, and garam masala. Cook together for 5 minutes.

5.     Now add the pureed spinach mixture and cook together for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

If you want to skip the protein component altogether, the spinach tastes amazing just as it is.

Ingredients for the Chicken or Paneer

1.     About 500g (a little over 1lb) of boneless, skinless chicken (preferably thighs), diced into bite-sized chunks.  OR about 500g of paneer, cut up into bite-sized cubes.

2.     ½ tsp turmeric

3.     2 tbsp fresh lime juice

4.     2 Tbsp yoghurt

5.     1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic

6.     1 Tbsp finely chopped ginger

7.     1 finely chopped green chilli (or more as per taste)

8.     1 tsp salt.

9.     2 Tbsp vegetable oil

10.  1 Tbsp fresh cream or yoghurt for the top (optional)

Method

1.     Marinade the chicken or paneer with the yoghurt, turmeric, lime juice, ginger, garlic, chilli, and salt for at least 30 minutes. If you have a couple of hours, the protein will absorb a lot more flavor. If you do marinate it for a couple of hours, put the marinating protein in the fridge.

2.     Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet. When the oil is hot, add the chicken or paneer, marinade and all, and sauté for about 5 minutes on high heat. You’re looking for the chicken not to cook completely, but to brown slightly. The paneer will not brown, but will absorb the flavors of the marinade.

3.     Now transfer the partly-cooked chicken or sauteed paneer to the spinach and cook together for about 10 - 15 minutes (or till chicken is done).

4.     Serve hot with a bread or rice of your choice.