Pesto is just a fancy name for green sauce/chutney. Now the actual pesto recipe is made from pine nuts, basil leaves( a type of tulsi ), garlic, and cheese. It tastes divine with pasta, bread, veggies, etc. Hey, I even make dosa with basil pesto sometimes. Throughout the summer, I grow basil in my patio to make fresh pesto. The store-bought ones can never beat the taste of the fresh ones homemade.
But the thing is basil grows only in summer. So what do I do for the rest of the seasons?
So I make pesto with the other green which is widely available throughout the year,m which is spinach.(Named Palak in India). A variety of recipes can be made with this palak pesto sauce. Palak paneer, aloo palak, palak pasta, and the list goes on.
This can be had a side/chutney with south Indian delicacies like Idli and Dosa too. (Edited to add- I had the spinach chutney with hot idlis and it tasted so heaven 😋😇. It is a must-try combination)
Read further for the spinach chutney/pesto recipe.
Ingredients :
- Spinach - 1/2 bunch
- Tomato - 1/2 medium-sized
- Onion - 1/2 medium-sized
- Garlic cloves - 4 in no
- Ginger - 1 tspn - chopped
- Salt to taste
- Oil as required
- Chilli/paprika powder - 1 tsp (less spicy version)
- Pepper - 1/4 tspn(optional)
Instructions :
- Slice the onion, tomato, ginger, and garlic. Clean and chop the greens.
- Heat a pan or a wok and add 2 tbsp oil (or as required)
- Once the oil is hot enough, add the sliced onions and saute it until it turns translucent.
- Now add the tomato and saute for a minute or two.
- Add the chopped ginger and garlic and saute it for a couple of minutes
- Add the palak spinach and saute them together until the greens are wilted and cooked.
- Switch off the heat source and let them cool for some time.
- Once they come to normal temperature, transfer them to blender and blend it to a paste.
- Switch on the heat source again and in the same pan, add a little bit of oil.
- When the oil is hot enough, add chili/paprika powder, salt and saute it for a second.
- Pour the blended paste to the wok and give it a nice stir.
- Close it and cook for a couple of minutes, add pepper powder on top, and switch of the heat.
- The pesto sauce is so ready. Once it cools off, you can transfer this to a jar and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.
If you like this pesto sauce, I am sure you may wanna check this delicious Creamy Palak Spinach Pasta as well.
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Do try and let me know your comments.