Saag Aloo
Saag Aloo (translated as potato with greens) is a northern Indian dish which consists of potatoes in a rich, spicy, spinach and tomato based curry sauce. It is one of our all time favorite curries and it ends up on the dinner table at our house all the time, more so now that I have realised that I can cook it better than most of the local curry houses! While experimenting with Saag Aloo recipes, most of them had a result I was not happy with, the potatoes breaking up and starting to turn to mush as well as the sauce being a little on the watery side. I needed a new technique to get my potatoes to survive the cooking process in one piece as well as avoiding the need to add too much water. The secret? Fry the potatoes rather than cook them in the sauce, cooking it this way has been a game changer, now I get perfect Saag Aloo every time.
Ingredients
500g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2cm pieces
5 Tablespoons Ghee
2 Onions, finely sliced
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chilli powder (or 2 if you want it to be very spicy, like I do)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1 and 1/2 teaspoons garam masala
1 tablespoon dried fenugreek
tiny pinch of asafoetida
1/4 teaspoon table salt (or more to taste)
Small bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Serves: 2 people (with rice or flatbreads, they will be very large portions)
Instructions
While cutting up the potatoes, keep them in water until ready to use, this will stop them going black
Heat a large heavy bottomed pot on a high heat and add the ghee, when really hot throw in the potatoes and fry, stirring regularly until they are browned (see photo)
Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside
Turn the heat to medium and add the onions and cumin seeds, gently fry until the onions are starting to brown, around 5 minutes. Be careful not to let them burn
Add the ginger and garlic and fry for another minute or so
Add the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have softened
Add the chilli powder, paprika, turmeric, ground coriander, half a teaspoon of the garam masala, dried fenugreek, asafoetida and salt. Stir and fry for another 5 minutes or so, until the sauce has thickened and the oil starts separating from the tomatoes
Add the spinach along with 100ml of water and simmer for another 5 minutes, until the spinach has completely wilted
Add the fried potatoes and sir through gently (you don't want to break up the potatoes) Simmer for another 5 minutes so the potatoes soak up the delicious curry sauce
Before serving, stir through the chopped coriander as well as the remaining 1 teaspoon of garam masala
Serve with either flat breads or rice and enjoy!
