Creamy Spinach Corn Curry (Palak Malai Corn)

I can relate to food ingredients as if they were humans. Bear with me here. It is quite interesting.

If Sugar and Butter were people, and if they got married, their match would be match made in heaven. Do you agree? I think you do.

If you take some of the vegetables, legumes, spices, nuts or fruits, they could be called siblings or cousins even. I am not even going by their family here.

Apples and Pears could be siblings or cousins.

Coconut and Cardamom could be some distant relative with a strong relation.

Bananas and walnuts could be very good friends. And so on.

You probably think I am crazy. But it is so true that they work together very well.

Oranges bring out the best in Cranberries. So does lemon in Blueberries.

Tomatoes and Basil go hand in hand. Ginger and Garlic are the same.

So, I believe green peas and corn are long lost siblings. They grow differently, their colors are different, but are pretty much alike if you think from my point of view. Both of them are sweet, tender and can be just boiled and eaten.  And because I feel they can be treated same way, I made a version with corn very similar to my 'Methi malai mutar'.

Ingredients:
Red Onions - 3 small chopped into chunks
Green chillies - 10 or to taste remove stalk and rinse and pat dry. No need to chop
Cashews - 2 TBSP
Cloves - 4 - 5
Cardamom - 1 whole
Cinnamon - 1/2" stick
Garlic - 2 pods slightly crushed
Poppy Seeds - 2 TBSP
Corn - 3 cups (I used 4 cobs and shucked the kernels. You can use frozen if you prefer)
Milk - 1 - 1 1/2 cups. (I used 1 cup milk + 1/2 cup water)
Park skim Ricotta cheese or paneer - 3/4 - 1 cup
Salt - to taste
Spinach / Palak - 10 Oz bag or a bunch chopped finely
Oil - 3 TBSP divided use
Sugar - 1 TBSP (optional)

Method:
Place all the corn kernels in a sauce pan. Pour milk and water mixture or plain milk over them and let them cook. Meanwhile, in a skillet, heat 2 TBSP of oil. When hot, add garlic, green chillies, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, cashews. When the spices start to pop and cashews are golden, add poppy seeds. These pop everywhere. You might want to cover the pot with a splatter screeen. When they stop popping, add chopped onions. Sprinkle some salt and let it cook. By this time, the corn must be cooked. Turn off the heat. When onions are done, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit. When cool enough to handle, place the onion mixture into a blender and puree them.

To the same skillet that you used to saute onion and spices, add 1 TBSP of oil and saute spinach till it wilts. It will leave water. You don't need to cook this entirely here. This is just to clean the pan and remove all the poppy seeds that are sticking to it. Pour this into the milk and corn mixture and turn on the heat.
Add the ground paste to the pot, Now add sugar if using and stir well. Add ricotta cheese or paneer and stir. Lower the heat and let it simmer for couple of minutes or till the spinach is completely cooked. Adjust the salt if needed and turn off the heat. Serve with roti, naan or chapathis. It tastes amazing with rice too. My kids loved this dish.

Notes:
If you prefer creamier version, you can use heavy cream instead of milk. This is pretty creamy since corn leaves out part of corn starch and this thickens the sauce.
You could eliminate green chillies and use red chilli powder or cayanne in its place. You can even add a touch of amchoor if you like it tangier.

Enjoy!!