Pui Shaak er Ghonto - Indian Spinach with Vegetables

When Mum came to visit for a fortnight about three years ago, we  made a point of shopping at the Indian and Oriental grocery stores every other day, coming home and then cooking up a storm.  She recited and I wrote down all the recipes we prepared in a notebook.  This is a recipe from that notebook.  

And here is a picture of the vegetables before prepping.  The tomatoes were not used in this recipe; they are there for presentation only, for color contrast. :)

Ingredients:

Big bunch of pui shaak, chopped (aka Malabar/Indian spinach at Vietnamese stores)
1 russet potato, cubed
1/4 pumpkin, peeled and cubed
1 Oriental eggplant, cubed
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
2 whole dried red chillies
1/2 tsp. panch phoron (cumin,fenugreek,nigella,black mustard & fennel seeds)
2 tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. roasted panch phoron, ground
1/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. ghee

Directions:

1. In 1 Tbsp. oil, fry eggplant cubes over medium-high heat until golden.
2. Remove eggplant and set aside.
3. In same saucepan, add remaining oil and sputter panch phoron seeds, chillies and bay leaves.
4. Add potatoes, pumpkin and ginger paste and stir well.
5. Cover and cook until vegetables are almost done.
6. Add pui shaak, cover and cook until spinach is wilted and most of the liquid has evaporated.
7. Return reserved eggplant to saucepan and cook for a couple of minutes.
8. Sprinkle roasted panch phoron and sugar over top, and stir.
9. Garnish with ghee, stir and remove from heat.
10. Serve with hot, cooked Basmati rice.

I shared this recipe on