indian - aloo palaak and coconut rice!

yesterday i was searching the 'vegetarian times' website, and some indian dishes caught my eye. probably because i was in the mood for indian cuisine. i ended up with aloo palaak (spinach and potatoes) and coconut rice.

both were fairly easy recipes to follow. we'll start with the aloo palaak. you may find the recipe by (clicking here).

this is perhaps the only recipe i've ever used that's required me to defrost frozen spinach and then save the liquid. there is no exciting picture of me squeezing spinach liquid...well...because i needed both hands. instead, you get this:

and i took it and added potatoes:

and mixed it with various spices as found in the dizrections, and put it in a casserole dish. this is what is looked like before it was covered and baked for 45 minutes:

and after it came out of the oven - but right before i added the coconut milk:

and, here it is again after the addition of the coconut milk. immediate changes! just like magic!

and, here is it...i give you...light coconut milk!

i have shown you this coconut milk for two reasons. 1) it is in both the aloo palaak and the rice and so it is a bridge for the palatte, and 2) i walked around the supermarket for no less then 10 minutes* trying to find this darn thing, and so i hold this up in triumph. in fact, this post is dedicated to coconut milk.

*those ten minutes may have involved some bad words, and may have involved me actually walking down the aisle that held the coconut milk no less than three times. but don't tell anyone.

but i digress.

the coconut rice recipe can be found by (clicking here).

here is some of the prep work - butter, cinnamon, and garlic (for those of you who looked at the recipe, you'll note that there is supposed to be ginger up in this pot. however, the supermarket was OUT of ginger. i know.):

an incredible action shot of warming rice and various liquids, including the incredible coconut milk:

and look! coconut rice! except, don't tell anyone, it didn't have a very strong coconut flavor. next time will add the extra added optional coconut.

and here, ladies and gentleman, was the lovely finished product:

or was it?

there may have been some mostly-homemade naan that should go in the picture too, but i'm going to save it for tomorrow, because, as we all know, anticipation feeds hunger. that, and this post is already too long :)