Chicken Saag Traditional Style Curry. Well, I say traditional, but this tastes as good as any you can get from the takeaway. It may even be better than what you find in a restaurant.
Although it doesn’t use a base gravy, the texture is like a curry from a restaurant. With the slow cooking of the onions, they end up melting into the sauce. A little tomato puree and blending the tinned tomatoes also gives a nice smooth finish to the dish.
The paste of green pepper, chilli and coriander stalk adds to the layers of flavour in the curry. The half added towards the beginning of cooking gives a nice depth of flavour to the sauce. The remaining paste added at the end helps lift the flavour and give the curry a nice zing. About this paste, if you like it really spicy, add more chilies. If you’re not so keen on the hot stuff, add less or even leave them out. It’s you that’s eating it after all! I find 2 chilies gives a nice bit of warmth. But, everyone’s heat tolerance is different. Trust your own judgment.
I add plenty of salt to this curry. It improves the overall flavour. The same goes with the oil and ghee. It adds a nice bit of smoothness and rounds out the flavour of the spinach. If you’re a little more conscious about your health, then of course, reduce the amount. If you are reducing the amount of oil or ghee, have a jug of freshly boiled water ready. Use it when frying the spices. A splash of water helps calm everything down and can stop your spices burning, which you really don’t want!
The mustard really helps lift the flavour in this Chicken Saag. You can’t really taste it but if you aren’t a fan, or even allergic, miss it out.
As you would expect I used ‘Ome Made BIR Curry Masala and Garam Masala in this dish. They can be found at www.omemade.co.uk. Along with a whole lot more spice blends!
I hope you enjoy making this curry. It’s certainly one of my favorites
Saag Murgh
Ingredients
- 900 g chicken thigh diced
- 450 g fresh spinach
- ½ green pepper deseeded and roughly chopped
- 1-2 green chillies sliced
- Stems from a bunch of coriander
- 3 tbsp ghee or oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp brown mustard seeds
- 2 medium onions finely diced
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste or 8 cloves of garlic and a 1” piece of fresh ginger finely chopped or grated
- 1 tbsp of mix powder or mild curry Masala
- 1 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp tomato puree
- 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes blitzed smooth.
- 1 tsp strong English mustard
- 1 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaf Kasoori Methi
- Salt to taste
- 3 tomatoes cut into segments
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped coriander leaf
Instructions
- Wash the spinach and drain. Put the drained spinach in a pan and heat gently until wilted. Remove from the heat and drain off the water. Once the spinach is cool, blend half of it to a smooth puree and roughly chop the other half.
- Blend the green pepper, chillies and coriander stalks to a smooth paste in a mini blender. Put to one side in a bowl.
- Heat the ghee or oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Once hot add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds, fry until sizzling and aromatic.
- Add the diced onion and salt. Cook on a gentle heat for 20-30 minutes until a golden-brown colour.
- Add the garlic and ginger and fry for 30-40 seconds.
- Add the mix powder and Kashmiri chilli powder, cook for 30-40 seconds stirring, if it feels like the spices are sticking or burning add a splash of hot water.
- Add the tomato puree and stir into the mixture.
- Add half of the pureed pepper, chilli and coriander stalk paste. Stir in and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the diced chicken and stir round to coat with the spice paste then add the tinned tomato and mustard. The sauce may look a little thick at this point, but the chicken will release liquid as it cooks so it’s better to thin the sauce out later if it’s needed.
- Put a lid on the pan and cook on a very gentle simmer for 30 minutes.
- Taste the sauce and add salt to taste, the Garam Masala, dried fenugreek leaf, tomatoes, the spinach puree, chopped wilted spinach and the remaining pepper, chilli and coriander stalk puree.
- Let heat through before adding the chopped fresh coriander and serving.
Please consider sharing your own photos of this dish, after you have made it. You can share them on the UK Curry Group or ‘Ome Made Facebook group. We love to see them!