Recipe Aid: Help My Aloo Palak

Last night, I experimented with combining elements of various Aloo Palak (creamed spinach and potato curry) recipes I have read over the years, and my experiments have yielded this dish.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with it, but it needs a something little extra.  Je ne sais quoi.  Do you have any ideas?

Basic Aloo Palak 

1 cup strained Greek yogurt
1 cup water or milk
1 cube frozen chopped spinach
6 diced Yukon Gold potatoes
3 tablespoons garlic
3 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
curry powder to taste (I like my curry strong so I used at slightly less than 1/4 cup, which sounds like a lot, but potatoes, yogurt, and spinach tend toward the bland otherwise)

Sauté garlic, cinnamon, ginger and curry powder in large saucepan.   Add the frozen cube of spinach and let it thaw and soak in the spices.  Add the potatoes and simmer for half an hour.  Serve on a bed of rice.
Serves 4.

Pan Fried Curried Linguine

I made this up myself, because I don't feel like spending money on real Asian noodles right now.

1 pkg fresh spinach

1 tomato

1 box linguine

1 cup olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic

curry powder and hot chili flakes to taste

Boil one box of linguine according to the directions on the packet. Drain and rinse so it won't all stick together in a big soggy ball. Take a wok or skillet, pour 1 cup olive oil, turn on medium heat. Add and saute the garlic, curry powder, and chili flakes. Put the noodles in the skillet and stir, making sure they're as completely covered with oil as they can be. Add the vegetables, cooking them down as much as you'd like.

Discount Blue-eyed Curry

Made this up a few weeks ago to use up some otherwise bland food and work around the fact that my boyfriend hates yogurt.

Part the First: The Sauce

Make a white sauce:
4 tsps of butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups milk

Boil until sauce is thick, but still liquid.

Add:
Liberal doses of: curry powder, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, cilantro, pepper.

Part the Second: The Veggies

1 can chickpeas or red beans
1 bag frozen veggies (I hate chopping vegetables after I've been at work all day)


Combine the sauce with the veggies. Eat.