Saag Aloo

Saag Aloo is a North Indian vegetarian dish made of any type of leafy greens and potatoes. It is a very popular dish at Indian restaurants. If you see Palak Aloo on a menu, you will know that it is particularly spinach (callaloo) and aloo (potatoes). Confused? Don’t be. Let me explain.

See how we use the word choka to refer to a style of a dish or a method of preparation? It is the same principle in the use of the word saag. Saag is used to indicate the style of the dish – a greens-based dish cooked with another main ingredient. For example, there is saag gosht (spinach and meat). Today’s recipe is saag aloo – spinach and potatoes.

There are various ways of preparing saag aloo – some people make it gravy like, thickened with cream and whole milk yogurt. Others make it like I do, dry. It is really a matter of preference and in some cases tradition. What you use to accompany the saag aloo is also an indicator of how you would want to prepare it. For example, if eating it with rice alone, you might want to make it with the gravy, but if you are also serving dhal then you can make it dry. I ate mine with our version of paratha roti and preferred it dry, however, having it gravy-like is excellent for dragging the roti through and soaking up all that goodness.

 

Saag Aloo Photo by Cynthia Nelson
Saag Aloo Photo by Cynthia Nelson

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon whole brown/black mustard seeds

1 teaspoon whole cumin (jeera)

¾ cup finely chopped onions

2 teaspoons garlic paste (see notes below)

2 teaspoons ginger paste (see notes below)

½ teaspoon ground turmeric

Minced hot pepper to taste

2 – 3 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

Salt to taste

Kettle of boiling water

1 pound spinach (choose the kind of callaloo you prefer)

Squirt of fresh lime/lemon juice (optional)

 DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan such as a karahi on medium heat until the oil is hot (shimmering).

Add mustard seeds and as soon as they begin to fry and pop add the cumin and let cook for about 20 seconds then add in the onions, stir and cook until the onions are softened. You may need to reduce the heat so that the onions do not get brown.

Add the ginger and garlic paste along with the turmeric and hot peppers, cook for 1 – 2 minutes (raise the heat if you had lowered it).

Add the potatoes along with salt to taste and toss to coat with the spice-onion mixture. Cover the pan and reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

While the potatoes are cooking, put the washed spinach into a colander in the sink and pour the hot water over the spinach, this will wilt the spinach. As soon as you are done pouring the hot water, immediately rinse the spinach thoroughly with cool tap water.

Squeeze out all the excess water from the spinach, you want it dry, never mind it will form into a ball.

Add the spinach to the bowl of a food processor (separate and scatter the spinach), put on the cover of the processor bowl and pulse to finely chop the spinach. Puree/chop according to your preference; I wanted mine with some texture so I pulsed a few times only. Alternately, you can leave the spinach as is or chop it up finely on a cutting board using a knife.

Remove the cover from the pan and check the potatoes, a knife should insert easily but the potatoes should not be soft that they are falling apart. If you get a little resistance, that is fine because the potatoes would finish cooking with the spinach.

Add the spinach and gently toss to mix with the potatoes, taste for salt and adjust if necessary. Cover the pan and let cook for 8 – 10 minutes, squirt lime/lemon juice is using, give it another stir, and serve hot.

 NOTES

The garlic and ginger paste simply means that the ingredients should be grated or ground to a smooth paste. Do not simply chop the ingredients and add it to the pot because it would not release the potency of flavour in the way it is meant to in the dish.

If you want to make the saag aloo with a gravy, add some heavy cream or whole milk yogurt along with a little water at direction # 8. Stir gently to mix in then add spinach.