Spinach With Cardamom

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In this dish fresh spinach is spiked up with a number of Asian spices, the main one being cardamom seeds, which are inside every pod but rarely see the light of day in Western kitchens.

Four people will make short work of the following:

· 900g or thereabouts of fresh spinach or silver beet tops
· 1 onion, cut in half and then finely sliced
· 1 chili pepper, de-seeded and chopped
· 1 clove garlic, chopped
· 2.5cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated
· 2 tsp ground coriander (cilantro) seeds
· 1 tsp cumin
· 6 dried cardamom pods
· 1 tomato, peeled, de-seeded and chopped

Wash the spinach and put it into a dry saucepan with a tightly fitting lid. Add a little salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook over a medium heat until wilted. Do not add any more water than that clinging to the leaves after washing.

Drain and allow to cool. Once you can comfortably handle it, squeeze out as much moisture as possible and chop with a knife.

To extract the seeds from the cardamom pods, lay the flat of a kitchen knife over each pod and thump it with the side of your fist. The pods will readily crack open and you can easily extract the seeds. Reserve these with the other spices.

Heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until it just starts to color, then stir in all the other ingredients except the spinach and tomato. Cook gently for about 2 minutes, or until your sense of smell tells you that all the flavors have been released. It’s important not to overcook.

Add the tomato and heat through. Add the chopped spinach and stir thoroughly, cooking the mix for a further 4-5 minutes over a gentle heat.

The spinach may throw more liquid and if this is the case, turn the heat up to high and boil this away while briskly stirring the spinach mixture. Serve at once.

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