Palak Gosht

P A L A K    G O S H T

I think most Pakistani’s would agree with me when I say, we primarily grew up eating some variety of goat meat or chicken in a stew with or without vegetables or legumes. These were staple dishes my mother cooked while we were growing up. Now that she has mostly retired from cooking aside from her lavish dinner parties, my sisters have taken over and ironically, they mostly make the same meals.

On the contrary, my own family eats a variety of cuisines and we make an attempt to to cook healthier meals for the most part. However, sometimes we just want good old traditional home cooking. Since I’ve been making Maya a paratha (fried unleavened flatbread) daily, it isn’t unusual to want to eat the bite or two I sneak from her with delicious, traditional foods.

Palak Gosht (spinach with goat meat) is one of my all-time favorite recipes. I go the extra mile and make it “’daig’ style by cooking the spinach for a while and hand blending it to creamy perfection. This dish is popular at weddings and dinner parties. It goes perfect with naan, roti, paratha, boiled rice or ‘tarka’ rice.

Like most of my cooking, this recipe requires basic ingredients and technique. I learned this recipe from my mother however the hand blending tip was from my husband. He insisted I make this clear! I recently perfected my gosht technique in the Instant Pot and am very happy with how it turned out, so here goes!

Palak Gosht
Course – Entré
Cuisin – Indian, Pakistani
Total Time - 1 hour 30 minutes

Ingredients
Goat meat – 1 lb
Fresh or frozen spinach – 2 lbs
Onion – 1 medium, sliced
Tomatoes – 2 medium, diced
Garlic paste – 1 tbsp.
Ginger paste – 1 tbsp.
Red chili powder – 1 tsp or to taste
Salt – 1 tsp or to taste
Turmeric – 1/3 tsp
Coriander powder – 1 tsp
Long hot chili pepper or Jalapeno – 1 or 2, to taste
Cooking oil – ½ cup
Butter or ginger slivers for garnish

Instructions
1. Turn Instant Pot on sauté and heat oil.
*Alternatively can put a thick based pot or pressure cooker on medium flame and do the same.
2. Add sliced onions and sauté till golden
3. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for one more minute
4. Add rinsed meat and all spices; sauté for 3-5 minutes
5. Add tomatoes all and sauté slowly till oil separates
6. Add 4 cups of water, cover with lid, place steam release handle on steam and 
set Instant Pot to Pressure Cook High for 35 minutes.
*If using conventional pot, add water, turn flame high. When contents start to boil, 
turn flame on simmer, partially cover with lid and let it cook for up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
*If using regular pressure cooker, add water, turn flame high. When contents start to boil, 
cover with lid and pressure cook per your devices directions.
7. Once done, turn steam release handle to vent and release steam.
8. Remove lid and separate meat into separate bowl.
9. Turn Instant Pot on sauté or transfer soup to another pot and turn flame on medium. I transferred it to another pot.
10. Add all the spinach and green chili peppers to pot and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
11. Remove from heat. Use hand blender to puree contents. Alternatively, put in conventional blender and puree.
12. Return to put, put back on heat at low simmer. Cover pot loosely and let spinach cook for 10 to 15 minutes more. 
Do not leave uncovered, the spinach will sputter and can cause burns if splashes onto skin.
13. Return separated meat back to pot with spinach, mix and serve.