Saag (Finally!!)

First a story.

The first time I ever had Indian food, I was really excited. I mean, it all sounded so delicious to me. The spices, the ingredients, the mix of savory and a hint of sweetness, the spice. And then I had it and I was chock full of meh about it. The place we went to, while well loved in Denver, seriously failed to impress me. I had the saag because I have a serious love affair with spinach, and it was bland and boring. It could have been a off day for the chef or something but I was so unispired by it that it took me a full 2 years to try Indian food again.

I went to several tasty places and then I found MY favorite Indian food in CO, Star of India. A little family run restaurant, the food is always consistently excellent and I love it so very much, which if you are reading this, you are on my FB which means you are already very well aware of this fact.

*side note - I like Yak and Yeti but it's been so incredibly inconsistent in quality and reliability that I have pretty much quit eating there. Its a bummer because it was tasty but I hate never knowing how my meal is gonna turn out*

Anyway, while their prices are very reasonable especially for the quality, service, and the consistency of their food, I don't always want to go out to eat so I was determined to come up with my own recipe for one of my favorite dishes, Saag.

It has taken me the better part of a year to really come up with the PJ perfect version of saag. Not at all like Star of India of course, but it's very tasty and I definitely love it.

The recipe is pretty adaptable too. I use a variety of greens to add texture but you can easily do all spinach if that is what you prefer. I use a full can of diced tomatoes because I love tomatoes but you can easily skip that or use 1 diced fresh tomato. I also like to top mine with a diced tomato and a bit of finely diced onion when I can.

I also use both heavy cream and Greek yogurt in mine so it's pretty damned creamy but you can use coconut cream, just heavy cream, just yogurt, or if you are trying to lay off the milky, fatty goodness, just go without. The only thing I will say is don't use "lite" coconut milk (which is just regular coconut milk with water added) or lowfat cream/yogurt. The texture gets wonky and it looks kind of icky so please just don't do it!

Onwards!


1 lb spinach
1 bunch mustard greens, washed and torn up into pieces
1 bunch collard greens, washed and torn up into pieces
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 red onion, finely diced
2 teaspoons grated ginger
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 can petite diced tomatoes
2 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or less if you can't take the heat)
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup water
salt to taste
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt


1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Cook the collard and mustard greens until wilted and softish, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon or tongs and let drain. Then toss in the spinach and let that cook for about 3 minutes, then drain. Rinse with cold water so you can handle the greens and drain it was well as you can. If you have a food processor, transfer the mix to it and puree until it's all finely chopped. If you don't, just chop it up as small as you can and put into a bowl until you are ready for it.

2. Because I'm lazy, I reuse the same large saucepan from step 1 here

3. Heat the oil in the pan and fry the cumin and coriander seeds until lightly toasted and aromatic, about 3 minutes being very careful not to burn them! Add the onion and cook until the onion starts to get soft, stiring often. Add in the ginger, garlic, tomato, garam masala, turmeric, and cayenne and cook for about 10 minutes until its super fragrant the spices are all absorbed into the onions and tomatoes.

4. Stir in the greens, cream, water, and salt to taste. Simmer while your rice is cooking being sure to stir it every couple of minutes or so just to make sure it doesn't burn or get too dry. You can always add a smidge more water if need be.

5. Once my rice is done, I add about 1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt and stir it well, heat through and serve!


its a little yellower than usual because I don't actually measure so I put in a bit more turmeric than I planned on but it's SO good. 




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