Easy Vegetable Palak Curry

For an easy yet flavourful main dish, look no further than this colourful Vegetable Palak Curry. Mixed vegetables (I use frozen but you can use fresh) are cooked in a light, creamed spinach gravy. It's ready within 30 minutes and is delicious served with simple whole wheat roti.

I love curries with spinach based gravies like chana saag, authentic restaurant style saag aloo and Punjabi saag paneer - the spinach adds an extra layer of flavour that is so interesting!

You may also like this dry hariyali aloo which is perfect as a starter.

I keep the green gravy simple with spinach (or palak) rather than using lots of different herbs or green leaves. For something earthier and robust, try my sarson da saag with makki di roti.

Instead, I add kasoori methi which is a quick way of adding deep, restaurant style flavours.

I also like adding cream to the gravy because without it, vegetables and spinach alone are too light and mild in flavour. It's a trick that works wonders in restaurant style palak paneer so I had to use it here too!

Veg Hariyali Ingredients

Find the full recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.

Mixed vegetables:

I speed things up by using good quality frozen mixed vegetables - this saves many minutes of prep time! Supermarket frozen mixed veg which consists of diced carrots, green beans, sweetcorn and peas.

Feel free to use the same fresh veg. You could also add in baby corn and/or cauliflower when in season.

You need to allow the vegetables to cook fully before adding the spinach puree.

Spinach

I use a big bag of baby spinach, that is blanched. I find that adding a pinch of sugar when blanching helps the spinach retain its colour. Frozen spinach works too.

Onion, garlic, ginger, green chillies and tomatoes

I often keep frozen cubes of Indian onion tomato curry paste handy as well.

Cream

A little fresh cream lightens the gravy. I have successfully used plain yogurt as a replacement to the cream.

Optional:

If I find that my spinach puree is watery, I occasionally add a spoon of besan after adding the masala. This helps thicken the gravy without imparting its own flavour.

Serving Ideas

Creamy palak with vegetables is easy enough to make for a mid week meal, but can be a side for a more elaborate weekend feast too.

It goes down a treat in our house with roti or triangle ajwain paratha. Try it with besan (chickpea flour) roti for something a bit different.

I like to add a cooling tomato raita (without onion) on the side. To bulk out the meal, I add a simple side like Indian black eyed peas salad or warm beetroot, radish and carrot salad.

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