Saag

Saag

This one of my favourite accompaniments to a meat and fish Indian dishes. Spinach or a simulator green leaf vegetable are cooked down to almost a puree with herbs and spices and are accompanied with sweet potato or a similar root vegetable. You can pre-cook the spinach and prepare all the ingredients ahead and simply finish the dish 10-15 minutes before serving.

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4-6 Portions:
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Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Saag

  • 500-600g spinach leaves or similar green leaf vegetable e.g. silverbeet
  • 300g white sweet potato, parsnip or potato, peeled and finely diced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tsp ginger finely chopped
  • 2 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 3 tbsp yoghourt
  • 2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped

Method

  1. Spinach: Wash and trim the spinach leaving the excess water on the leaves. Place the spinach in a saucepan and place it over a moderate heat with the lid on. Cook the spinach for 3-5 minutes until the spinach has reduced and is wilted. Remove the spinach from the heat and remove the squeeze out the water. Chop the spinach up finely.
  2. To Cook: Place the oil in a large saucepan over a moderate-high heat. Place the onions in the hot pan and cook it for a few minutes are soft and golden. Add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli powder, cumin and coriander to the pan and cook them while stirring for a few seconds. Add the potatoes to the pan and coat them in the spices and cook them for a couple of minutes. Add the spinach to the pan and stir it in well so that all the ingredients are well distributed. Place a lid over the pan and reduce the temperature to low and leave it to cook for 5 minutes.
  3. To Finish: Add the salt, sugar, yoghourt and coriander to the pan and stir it until they are well combined with the ingredients. Taste the saag and adjust the flavour as required e.g.. More salt, sugar or yoghourt
  4. To Serve: Serve the saag with papadums or chapatis and or rice and curry or meat/fish dish.