Qorma-e-Sabzi

The last component of our Afghan dinner, accompanying the chapli kebab and the naan and tomatoes, was qorma-e-sabzi, a slow-cooked, stewed spinach. I had been trying hard, despite the pandemic, to make sure we got enough vegetables in our diet, and a bowl of tomatoes just didn't feel like it would be enough to offset all that "meat" and bread. I wasn't sure how B would like it, since it's a little harder to eat spinach with your hands or rudimentary fork skills (wrote this post in 2020 too...), but at least it would be good for the adults. I liked the recipe I found on Mom's Kitchen Handbook because it looked simple and because it could be made in a pot without any extra equipment like a slow cooker.

The ingredients for our adapted version were:

- 1 tbsp olive oil ($0.20)
- 1/2 of a big bunch of scallions ($0.64)
- 1/2 of a small bunch of cilantro ($1)
- 1 bag frozen spinach ($1.49)
- 1 tbsp dried dill ($0.10)
- 2 tsp ground coriander ($0.25)
- a couple dashes of cayenne pepper ($0.03)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper ($0.03)
- about 1.5 tbsp lemon juice ($0.29)
- water ($0)

The total amount of the spinach recipe was approximately $4.03, which when added to the other components (chapli kebab - $11.72, naan - $1.97, and a box of grape tomatoes - $2.69), resulted in a grand total of $20.41.

The recipe said that prep time would take 4 minutes and cook time 36 minutes, so it seemed like a simple enough recipe. I know I take a long time with prep, possibly longer than most amateur cooks, but I don't understand how 4 minutes is enough time to wash scallions, chop scallions, wash cilantro, pull cilantro leaves off the stems, and chop the cilantro, even for an experienced chef. What am I missing in terms of technique? We didn't even have the scallions and cilantro washed in 4 minutes. Anyway, the steps for our version of the spinach were:

1. Prep - chop scallions and cilantro.

2. Heat olive oil in a pot over medium heat. [I used too big of a pot for one bag of spinach. Learn from my mistake!]

3. Add the scallions, and cook for a few minutes until softened.

4. Add the frozen spinach, and let it cook until you can break up all the frozen chunks.

5. Add the dill, coriander, cayenne, and about 1/4 cup of water. Stir together and cook for 20 minutes on medium low heat. Keep stirring regularly, and add water, a tbsp or so at a time, to keep it from drying out. [This worked well until my focus shifted to rolling out the naan, and the spinach dried out a little while it was neglected. Didn't seem to hurt it that much though.]

6. Add the cilantro, salt, pepper, and lemon juice, stir, and let cook for another 10 minutes.

The recipe was fairly straightforward and simple, other than the need to keep monitoring the spinach to make sure it didn't dry out. It seems like a good recipe to make if you're actively cooking something else on the stove for that half-hour and can just give it a good stir and water replenishment every so often. That said, for a spinach side dish, the prep time for us with the scallions and cilantro (really, the cilantro more than anything) took too long to make this very often. I did like the flavors a lot, and it was delicious with the naan. But as predicted, B was not much of a fan, and got a little frustrated by it even after we helped him eat some of it. Maybe we'll revisit this when he's a little bit older because the flavors are great. (2023 note: Spinach is one of the few green vegetables B eats now, but only contained in other things, like spinach pie.) Maybe we'll also be faster at prepping cilantro by then (but probably not).