Saag Aloo Recipes

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Fry the cumin seeds in a heavy bottomed pan in a bit of oil and butter until just starting to brown.
• Add the onion and fry until it too starts to brown.
• Add the potato, garlic, turmeric, ginger and garam masala and fry until the potato starts to soften.
• Unless you are using a non-stick pan, you may need to add water and cover to keep the potato from sticking and to help it cook. The first time I did this 1/2 cup at a time and it took about 20-30 minutes but I now prefer to parboil the potatoes, which means you add less water and it only takes about 10 minutes to finish off from this point.
• Add the spinach or chard and cook until it collapses over the potato.
• Salt to taste.

SPICY SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Boil a medium pan of salted water over high heat.
• Once boiling, add rice and cook for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain, then return to pan. Cover and set aside.
• Pick coriander leaves and finely chop stalks. Peel and finely chop onion, then chop everything together.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and coriander and fry for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Add curry paste and stir, frying for 1 minute.
• Cook gently, while you wash and chop potatoes into 2cm chunks. Finely chop tomatoes, then add to pan with the potato and enough hot water to almost cover them. Cover pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until almost soft.
• Trim and pick lettuce leaves, then put aside. Peel and crush garlic, halve and deseed chilli, then chop together.
• Test potatoes with the tip of a sharp knife - if they're nearly tender, remove lid, increase heat and cook for 5 minutes, until thickened.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, garlic and chilli, then fry gently for 1 minute, or until golden.
• Add spinach to the potato, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 2 minutes, or until spinach has wilted. Add half the chilli oil and stir through.
• Taste and season. Divide the rice and curry between plates. Scatter with coriander and serve with lettuce leaves and yoghurt, drizzling chilli and garlic oil over everything just before you eat.

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Prepare a large bowl of ice water, and set aside. Place a large pot of water over high heat, and bring to a boil. Add large-leaf spinach, and blanch until bright green and tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain, immediately plunge into ice water until cooled, and drain again. Squeeze out excess moisture, chop finely, and set aside.
• In a large sauté pan over medium heat, heat olive oil until shimmering. Add onion, and cook until soft and golden, 7 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, and chilies and sauté until the garlic and ginger are light brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the baby spinach and cook 1 minute. Add turmeric, and sauté 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the blanched, chopped spinach. Season with salt to taste. Cook 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often. Add fenugreek leaves, butter, nutmeg, and, if desired, heavy cream. Simmer 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. If necessary, lower heat to medium-low. Serve hot topped with, if desired, fried potato dumplings.

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a large pan, add 1 finely chopped onion, 2 sliced garlic cloves and 1 tbsp chopped ginger, and fry for about 3 mins.
• Stir in 500g potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks, 1 halved, deseeded and finely sliced red chilli, ½ tsp black mustard seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp turmeric and ½ tsp salt and continue cooking and stirring for 5 mins more.
• Add a splash of water, cover, and cook for 8-10 mins.
• Check the potatoes are ready by spearing with the point of a knife, and if they are, add 250g spinach leaves and let it wilt into the pan. Take off the heat and serve.

SWEET POTATO SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• If making the spice mix, toast the whole spices lightly in a frying pan, then grind them to a powder. Mix with the turmeric. Heat the oil in a large flameproof casserole dish or a deep frying pan. Add the onion and cook it quite briskly until it's softened and very lightly browned. Add the garlic, ginger and the spice mix or curry powder and stir until combined. Add the sweet potatoes to the pan and stir to coat them with the garlic, ginger and spices, then add the tomato and the vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring the stock to the boil, then turn down the heat, cover the pan and simmer very gently until the sweet potato is just cooked. This should take no longer than 10 minutes, but check regularly from 5 minutes as you don't want the sweet potato to go mushy - it should still have a little bite to it. Loosen the sauce with a little more stock or water if necessary. Add the spinach to the pan and cover the pan again until the spinach has wilted down. Stir very carefully to combine without breaking up the sweet potatoes. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve garnished with green chillies and fresh coriander.

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok over a medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and, as they begin to sizzle, add the garlic and chillies. Fry for a minute, then add the onion and continue to fry for 7-8 minutes, stirring well.
• Add the coriander and turmeric and stir well. Add the frozen spinach, put a lid on the pan and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes. Season with salt. As the spinach begins to release its moisture, turn the heat to low and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• Add the cubed potato and ginger and cook for 5 minutes: the potato will absorb any residual moisture. Serve with chapatis or rice.