Divine Indian Spinach Recipes

SAAG (INDIAN SPINACH)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute onion in oil on medium high along with ginger and garam masala until onions are translucent and begin to pick up some color.
• Add minced garlic to pan, and cook briefly to soften. Do not allow the garlic to burn - lower heat if necessary.
• Add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Incidentally, you can add a little more or less tomato depending on what you have available, slight differences in quantity will not be noticeable.
• Stir in yogurt. Do not worry if the yogurt separates.
• Add curry powder, coriander, cumin, sugar, and salt.
• Add bag of frozen spinach and mix well to combine. There is no need to defrost first if you use a the bagged spinach. If you are using the frozen block, I would advise defrosting first. You can also use the equivalent of fresh spinach.
• Add about a cup of water to the pot and cover. Simmer on medium for approximately 30 minutes. Spinach is done when the color has changed from the initial bright green to a much less vibrant green (almost brownish). If you crank up the heat, it is possible to cook this a little faster, but you have to pay attention to the moisture level. You may have to add more water throughout the cooking process if it cooks off.
• Once the spinach is fully cooked, remove the lid and cook off any remaining liquid. The spinach should be moist, but there should not be much liquid free in the bottom of the pan.
• Remove pan from heat.
• Using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, puree the spinach. Leave it as chunky as you like. You can also choose to puree only half of the mixture if you like bigger pieces of spinach.
• Add further salt to taste.
• I have found that I have to fine tune the spices every time I make this dish depending on how I feel that day. For me, adding further small amounts of coriander is the key.
• If you like, potatoes, paneer cubes or chick peas may be added at this point.
• ***NOTE*** It is very helpful to prepare all ingredients in advance of cooking so that they can be added quickly during the cooking process. I recommend combining the components of each step beforehand (i.e. pre-measuring the spices together) so that you can just dump everything in quickly as you go.

INDIAN DAHL WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Rinse lentils and soak for 20 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil and stir in salt, lentils, turmeric and chili powder. Cover and return to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook 5 minutes, or until lentils are soft. Add more water if necessary.
• In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute onions with cumin and mustard seeds, stirring often. Cook until onions are transparent, and then combine with lentils. Stir in garam masala and coconut milk and cook until heated through.

SIMPLY DIVINE MEAT LOAF WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, mix the ground beef, eggs, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, dry onion soup mix, Parmesan cheese, salad dressing, bread crumbs, and spinach. Transfer to a 5x9 inch pan, and cover with aluminum foil.
• Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove foil, and continue baking 15 minutes, to a minimum internal temperature of 160 degrees F (70 degrees C). Let stand 5 minutes before slicing.

INDIAN-SPICED SPINACH (SAAG)

Steps:

• Defrost and cook the spinach according to the package directions. Set aside
• Fry the onions, ginger, and garlic in the oil over medium heat, for about 4 or 5 minutes or until lightly browning.
• Add the dry spices and continue frying fo another 15 minutes. You will need to stir this every few minutes or so. The mixture will get dryer as you fry it. Add a tablespoon of water when it gets too dry.
• Add the spinach and yogurt and heat through.
• Blend until the spinach is your desired consistency. Taste, and add salt as needed. Salt will bring out all of the flavours.

EASY INDIAN CREAMED SPINACH

Steps:

• In a large skillet, sauté spinach in ¼ cup water over medium-high heat until wilted, about 5 minutes. Remove cooked spinach from the pan and set aside to cool. **Skip this pre-cooking step if using frozen spinach**
• In the same pan, add the olive oil and reduce heat to medium, then add the tomato, garlic powder, onion powder, garam masala, jalapeño, turmeric, ginger, and salt. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes or until tomato is soft. Using the back of a wooden spoon, smash the tomato into the bottom of the pan to break it up.
• Once the pre-cooked spinach has completely cooled, squeeze out any excess water and run a knife through it to chop it up. (If using frozen chopped spinach, thaw it and squeeze all the water out of it).
• Add the chopped spinach to the pan with the spiced tomato mixture, stir well to combine, and heat through. Reduce heat to low.
• Add the heavy cream to the spinach mixture and stir well. Simmer over low heat until mixture is heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

SPICED CREAMY SPINACH (PALAK PANEER WITHOUT THE PANEER)

Steps:

• Follow the instructions on the packet of frozen spinach by heating it up in the microwave or cook down fresh spinach in a saucepan just by itself
• Strain spinach water from the cooked down spinach
• Over medium high heat, saute garlic, ginger, chilies and onions in ghee until aromatic
• Lower heat to medium and mix in cumin, coriander, garam masala and yogurt
• Add cooked spinach and simmer for 5 minutes
• Add tomato sauce and mix thoroughly
• Remove from heat and transfer to a blender
• Blend the spinach mixture into a puree
• Dish and serve hot

DIVINE INDIAN SPINACH

Steps:

• wash, chop, and steam spinach.
• wash and chop cilantro, discarding lower stems.
• heat ghee in saucepan on medium-high setting.
• once ghee is hot, add mustard seed.
• once mustard seeds pop, add chopped onion and sautee till translucent.
• reduce heat to medium-low; add to pan the steamed spinach, cumin, coriander, salt, and cayenne.
• remove pan from heat and add chopped cilantro, stir.
• serve with your favorite indian main dish.