Spicy Baby Bok Choy with Masala

So my boyfriend is Fijian-Indian and his mom is hands down THE BEST INDIAN FOOD COOK EVER. Believe me, although I am not Indian, I am an avid Indian food eater and would consider myself a sort of Indian food connoisseur. ;) With the many visits that I make to my bf's house, I have managed to pick up some handy dandy cooking tips from his mom. <3

I randomly came up with this dish because all I had left to eat in the apartment was raw baby bok choy. Of course, I'm not trying to make a smoothie out of bok choy (that's weird...or maybe not...) and I'm not trying to spend money eating out everyday. SOOOO this left me with one option: making use with what I have. Let's just say I ain't complaining about the end results of my cooking adventure. ;)

Spicy Baby Bok Choy with Masala

Ingredients: 

1 tbsp oil

1/2 small onion 

1 head of garlic

1 tsp methi seeds (fenugreek seeds) (You can find them here if not at your local Indian grocery store or spice store.)

1 tbsp masala powder

1/2 tbsp chili powder (or even better, use real chili peppers!)

3 cups of baby bok choy

salt to taste

5 dashes of Cholula hot sauce (or any watery hot sauce you have on hand)

Directions:

1.) Finely chop your onion and garlic. 

2.) Heat up oil in a pot or pan. When hot, add in onion, garlic, methi, masala, and chili. You will know it's hot enough if you hear that charming sizzle from the hot oil. Heat and stir occasionally until onion is browned.

3.) Add in the bok choy and simmer until all the liquid that is released from the bok choy has evaporated. Stir occasionally so that the bok choy doesn't burn! (~15-20 minutes, so be patient!)

4.) Add salt and hot sauce to taste.

5.) Serve with brown rice or roti.

Makes ~ 2-3 servings. 

Side note: She doesn't use measurements. She goes with her gut, using all the knowledge that her mom taught her. Because she cooks everyday for her family, she just knows how much of each item to put into the cooking pot. I did my best to convert the ingredients into measurable ingredients for your convenience! :)

This tasted amazing! I'm really proud of how it turned out. You can always adjust the amount of spiciness to your preference. The most important part of this recipe to get maximum flavor is browning the onion in oil with garlic, methi, masala powder, and chili powder. Even if you don't like spicy, chili powder is an amazing ingredient that contributes greatly to this dish's flavor factor and I'm pretty sure there are chili powder varieties out there that aren't spicy. :) So for you non-spicy eaters, go find that non-spicy chili powder! 

Try out this delicious and healthy dish packed with vitamin A and C! If you make it, I'd love to see how it turns out for you and any personal twists you placed into it! :)

Enjoy! :)

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 78.5 Total Fat 4.8 g Saturated Fat 0.4 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1.4 g Monounsaturated Fat 2.8 g Cholesterol 0 mg Sodium 136.7 mg Potassium 208.1 mg Total Carbohydrate 8.2 g Dietary Fiber 0.7 g Sugars 1.7 g Protein 3.0 g Vitamin A 61.0% Vitamin C 39.2%

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp