THE Pateriya Hack We All Needed

Maybe I'm just late to the party, but why didn't anyone ever tell me about this PATERIYA HACK? I absolutely love pateriya but never find the time to so lovingly wash the leaves, de-vein them, make the dough, coat the leaves, roll them up, steam them and then fry them with vagaar... What a precious, but lengthy process!

On weekdays, my meals need to be done in 30min OR I can only spend an actual 30min preparing and putting together the ingredients and then leave the food to slow cook while I do other things. So making pateriya the traditional way would not be an option on a weekday! BUT! This non-traditional way really changes things!

SERIOUSLY... A GAME-CHANGER!! I do hope that you try it out! I’ve seen so many recipes that add some extra spices so please feel free to use your Mum’s or Granny’s ingredients – just use this hacked method to speed things up.

 Ingredients

• 200g washed & dried baby spinach

• 1/2 cup rice flour

• 1/2 cup chickpea flour

• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

• 1/2 tsp cumin powder

• 1/2 tsp coriander powder

• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder

• 1/2 tsp garam masala

• 1 tsp salt or to taste

• A handful of chopped coriander leaves

• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

• 1 tsp jaggery powder

• 1 Tbsp lime juice

• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger

• 1/2 tsp freshly grated garlic (optional)

• 1 deseeded & chopped green chilli (optional)

• Approx 1 cup of water (add slowly to get desired consistency)

Topping:

• 4 Tbsp ghee or oil

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds

• A handful of freshly chopped coriander leaves

• A handful of sesame seeds

• A handful of desiccated or freshly grated coconut

• Sprinkle of jaggery powder

• A squeeze of lime juice

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients except the baby spinach. The consistency should be that of a thick batter.

2. Add in the spinach leaves and mix with your hands till they are all coated.

3. Scoop the whole mixture into a flat thali/ try/ cake tin and flatten so that it’s evened out.

4. Set up a double boiler or put a smaller bowl into a deep pot with water.

5. Place the tin or thali inside the double boiler or onto the smaller bowl once the water comes to a boil.

6. Steam for 45-60min. I think my steaming vessel wasn’t ideal so if you have a good steamer, it can even just take 20-30min to steam.

7. Remove the thali/ tray/ tin from the boiler and allow to cool for 5-10min and then cut into square or diamond shapes.

8. In a frying pan, heat ghee or coconut oil with mustard seeds till the seeds start to sizzle.

9. Fry the spinach squares on medium heat without a lid till they start to crisp up.

10. Finish with coriander leaves, sesame seeds, coconut, jaggery powder and lime juice. Turn off the heat to let the squares crisp just a little more. Serve hot to get the maximum benefit out of the crispy outside and soft, layered inside.