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February 21, 2013

Palak Cheela (Instant Palak Dosa, Spinach Wraps)

Spinach Wraps Palak Dosa

After enjoying the yellow Carrot Wraps and the crimson Beet Wraps, the third successful colour and flavour experiment was the green spinach wraps. I had my worries that the spinach taste would be too strong, but I was wrong. The taste is mild and wonderfully balanced by the other ingredients.

I made these the same day I made the beet wraps, different batters, same cooking method. I wanted to use fresh spinach, but my blender wouldn't have turned it into the smooth paste I needed, so I opted instead for a quick steaming. I will detail below how I prepared the batter, for the cooking method please see my previous post for beet wraps. The important thing to keep in mind is to use medium-low heat in order to prevent browning and to keep the wraps moist and pliable.


Palak Cheela (Instant Palak Dosa, Spinach Wraps)
Makes 9

  • 1 cup besan (chickpea flour, gram flour), sifted
  • 1/4 cup rice flour (the powder type, not the slightly grainy one) - or replace with more besan
  • 1 tsp salt (I use Himalayan)
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder

  • 1 Tb + 1 tsp finely grated ginger
  • 2 large garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 cup spinach purée (about 110 g fresh spinach leaves, steamed, blended with 1/2 cup (125 ml) water)
  • 1/2 cup (125 ml) water

  • 1/4 cup oil for cooking (I use sunflower oil)

Note: 1 cup = 250 ml. I use a 16.5 cm/6.5'' pan. If you use a larger pan and wish to make large cheelas, simply increase the amount of batter for each.

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside.

Pour some water in a pan and bring it to a boil. Meanwhile wash and drain the spinach. Place your steamer on top (or an enamel colander with a matching lid, that's what I used), add the spinach leaves, cover and steam for no more than 3 minutes, by which time the leaves will become soft and dark green.

Carefully transfer the spinach to a blender and add the 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth. Add the spinach purée, the grated ginger and garlic and the other 1/2 cup water to the dry ingredients and mix well with a spoon.

Cook the cheelas following the same instructions as for Beet Cheela.

Spinach Wraps Palak Dosa

For a bit of heat add finely chopped green chilis and play around with the spices to suit your taste.

Keep the cheelas covered as you make them, so they remain soft and moist.

Spinach Wraps Palak Dosa

If you would like to introduce some healthy foods into kids' diet but worry they might not like them, say in smoothies, juices or salads, then try these colourful wraps - yellow, pink/red and green. Make rolls using their favourite spreads and vegetables (tomato, cucumber, shredded cabbage, sliced olives etc.) and cut them into bite-sized pieces, mixing the colours on the serving plate. Give them the freedom to choose and they will try all of them. Make sure you don't overstuff the wraps, they are delicate and can break if applying too much pressure.

Still within the green theme, I have previously shared the recipe for Zucchini Dosa (Cheela).

Spinach Wraps Palak Dosa

Enjoy and spread the magic!:)


If you've tried these wraps I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Thank you!

10 comments:

  1. I hope you like this spinach version, Veena:) Thank you for stopping by.

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  2. Hi....I'm loving how these are gluten-free! I have all three on my list of recipes to make but I better hurry and catch up before you create another one! lol

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  3. LOL You can definitely take your time, blue is not so easy to make:)) I'm so happy you like them:)

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  4. I LOVE these! Made them twice in the last week - the first time I followed the recipe exactly, and filled them with a grated carrot and coriander stuffing - they were amazing! Second time, I left out the cumin and ginger, but when making the spinach puree I threw about half a green chilli in, then when I made them up I had them like savoury pancakes with a spicy tomato and aubergine filling. They are so tasty and s easy to make, I'll definitely be aking these on a regular basis! Really want to try the beet ones now :)

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  5. Jess, thank you so much for the feedback, I greatly appreciate it. The spicy tomato and aubergine filling sounds delish! I hope you enjoy the beet wraps too, still have a few versions coming up:) Have a fun day!:)

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  6. Just made the palak cheela - first time making any kind of wrap! They are SOOO good! The only change I made was that I was all out of cumin, so I used garam masala. I think I may have needed a bit more water in my batter, as they didn't spread as nicely as it looks like yours did. I'll be making them again for sure, so I'll have a chance to perfect them! I'm going to try beet too :) Oh, and I'm going to do a post about them on my blog, so I'll link to yours!

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  7. Amy, it's very kind of you to share your experience with these wraps, thank you so much! I'm very happy they turned out good. It's enough to make them once to know how the batter should be, and even when you try other versions it will be easy:) I look forward to reading your post and thank you for linking back.

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  8. I LOVE these! I can barely contain myself from eating them straight out of the pan, let alone save them for lunch!!!

    Do you think you can substitute Kale? I just bought a BIG bag for really cheap.

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  9. Eating them straight from the pan, that's a challenge indeed:) I'm so happy you enjoyed them and yes, kale would work great too:) Thank you so much for writing!

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