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    Home » Recipes » Indian

    Kalmi shak Bhaja | Stir Fried Water Spinach

    Published: Apr 11, 2018 · Modified: Sep 17, 2022 by Geetanjali · This post may contain affiliate links · 15 Comments

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    Kalmi Shak Bhaja/ Kolmi shak/Stir-fried Water Spinach is a light, nutritious, yet tasty Indian side dish made with water spinach and very few commonly available spices. It goes perfectly with piping hot rice and dal.

    Kalmi Shak Bhaja

    In the childhood days, this is the particular shak I used to insist my mother to make in summer. Since summer is the season when young tender water spinach shoots arrive in the market and they taste awesome.  

    Kalmi shak/water spinach/river spinach is popular across the world. And often considered as the healthiest leafy vegetable packed with nutrients. Such as iron, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and fibers. Its water content is very high and is good for people with constipation and liver problem.   It can naturally grow on moist soil or in water and is cheap and easily available.  

    The kalmi shak itself has a nice, crunchy taste. Hence there is no need to add various spices to it. It is just a good side dish goes well with plain rice and daal or any other curry you prefer.  

    I will share two ways of making this kalmi shak bhaja with the same ingredients. And both are easy and delicious. There is a slight variation of taste. So do try both of the processes. And let me know which one suits you. Here I have used panch phodan. But if it is not available to you. You can also add nigella seeds/kalonji/black cumin seeds instead.  

    More vegetable side dishes:

    • Kundru Aloo Bhaji
    • Aloo Capsicum
    • Aloo Green Peas

    If you try this recipe, please leave a feedback and rating. You can also tag me @spoonofflavor on Instagram.

    Kalmi Shak Bhaja Recipe

    Kalmi Shaak Bhaji | Stir Fried Water Spinach

    A light, nutritious, yet tasty Indian side dish made with water spinach and very few commonly available spices. It goes perfectly with piping hot rice and dal.
    No ratings yet
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    Course: Lunch, Sides
    Cuisine: Indian
    Keyword: Kalmi shak bhaja, Stir fried water spinach
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 10 minutes
    Total Time: 20 minutes
    Calories:
    Author: Geetanjali

    Equipment

    • Pan

    Ingredients

    • 1 bunch kalmi shak/water Spinach young & tender
    • 6-7 chopped garlic cloves
    • 1 dry red chili broken
    • ½ teaspoon panch phodan/phoran (five Bengali spice mix) or use nigella seeds
    • 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
    • 1 tablespoon mustard oil
    • salt to taste

    Instructions

    For the First Method

    • Wash kalmi shak properly in running water and drain excess water.
    • Finely chop the shak and transfer it into a pan.
    • Add salt and cook uncovered over the medium flame until the extra moisture evaporates or becomes dry. Stir in between.
    • Heat mustard oil in another pan. Add panch phodan and broken dry red chili to the hot oil. let the panch phodan splutter.
    • Add the chopped garlic, followed by poppy seeds. Stir till garlic turns golden brown.
    • Add cooked shak. Stir for some seconds and remove from the flame.
    • Kalmi shak is ready to serve.

    For the Second Method

    • Wash kalmi shak properly in running water and drain excess water.
    • Finely chop the shak and set aside.
    • Heat mustard oil in a pan. Add panch phodan and broken dry red chili to the hot oil, allow the panch phodan to splutter.
    • Once done add chopped garlic, followed by poppy seeds. Stir till garlic turns golden brown.
    • Add shak and salt.
    • Keep the heat on medium to low and let it cook until the extra moisture evaporates. Stir in between.
    • Remove from flame and serve hot or warm with your choice of meal.

    Notes

    • Adjust the red chili as per your taste.
    • In the first process, you just have to give the cooked shak a temper/tadka/chhonk.
    • In both processes, cook the shak uncovered and do and be sure not to overcook the shak. The greens must have that crunch left.

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    Comments

    1. Mildly Indian

      October 05, 2018 at 10:52 am

      Wonderful to know its Indian name. I always followed water spinach and though it was available easily in Malaysia used to avoid it as the only thing i knew to make out of it was fritters. Now have a better option. Thankyou.

      Reply
    2. Shobha

      October 05, 2018 at 10:52 am

      I am a great fan of shaaks .. so nutritious. Love to eat them with bhakri.

      Reply
    3. My Culinary Journey

      October 05, 2018 at 10:52 am

      This recipe sounds quite similar to the dish we Sindhi's make known as Aisi palak,i.e.dry spincah.
      Love this. Yours look delicious.

      Reply
    4. Code2cook

      October 06, 2018 at 5:55 am

      fantastic share Gitanjali. Must say this is super healthy and so easy to make. I loved this kalmi shak bhaja recipe. Bookmarking I am so tempted to cook it.

      Reply
    5. Sujata Roy

      October 06, 2018 at 5:55 am

      Kalmi shak bhaja is quite popular in Bengali household. Your post made me nostalgic. I remember mom made Kalmi shak bhaja. Your looks so inviting. Great share.

      Reply
    6. Soma Mukherjee

      October 06, 2018 at 5:55 am

      My grandma used to make this saag whenever we used to visit her here in Bangalore we hardly get this variety of saag, you reminded me of those days loved your recipe.

      Reply
    7. Jagruti Dhanecha

      October 06, 2018 at 5:55 am

      Wish I can get hold of this bhaji here as my sunny boy loves any kind of greens. super recipe 🙂

      Reply
    8. jayashree

      October 06, 2018 at 11:10 am

      Lovely share, now I need to get this green vegetable, it is new to me. I need to find more info about it , thanks for sharing.

      Reply
    9. Archana Potdar

      October 06, 2018 at 11:10 am

      For me this is a new shak. Never heard of water spinach. I love the recipe can i try it with regular palak.

      Reply
    10. Malini Vivekananthan

      October 07, 2018 at 3:16 am

      One of my favorite stir fries. Instead poppy seeds, I used to add desiccated coconut at the end. Next time, will try adding poppy seeds. Greens are always good. 🙂

      Reply
    11. G.Pavani

      October 07, 2018 at 3:16 am

      My favourite fry. I can have this fry just like that with a bowl of rice. It is so tempting. Thanks for the recipe

      Reply
    12. firsttimercook

      October 07, 2018 at 3:16 am

      What a lovely share dear !!! Wanna grab right from screen .... All time fav saag variety is this

      Reply
    13. Poonam Bachhav

      October 07, 2018 at 3:16 am

      A new recipe, infact a new Vegetable to me. Will find out what f can get hold of this veggie here. Thanks for the share.

      Reply
    14. Nisha Ramesh

      October 07, 2018 at 4:23 pm

      I love greens and this looks amazing. Water spinach is new and ill try to find if I can get one here. Addition of sesame seeds is interesting.

      Reply
    15. Priya Srinivasan

      October 07, 2018 at 4:23 pm

      Spinach is our favorite and I make it atleast 3 or 4 times in a week! Stir fries like these are great combo with steaming hot rice and a
      Dollop of ghee! Hearty and healthy ❤️

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Geetanjali! I am the cook, photographer, and author behind Spoons Of Flavor. I focus on simple, affordable, and easy-to-follow recipes for everyday life.

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