Aloo Saag
I had planned on making a spinach potato frittata-type dish tonight with the lovely bunch of organic spinach I picked up at the store a couple of days ago, but that didn't seem very appealing to me when I woke up this morning--I think I'm a little tired of dairy. So I decided to make my favorite Indian dish, Aloo Saag, which is a potato spinach curry. I'd never attempted to make this at home before, so I went looking for recipes on the internet where I found versions of this dish under two names: aloo saag (or saag aloo) and aloo palak. Since Diamond's, my local Indian place, calls it the former, aloo saag it is!
At any rate, I cobbled together a few of these recipes and used what I had on hand as this was an unplanned change to the week's menu. It has been (rightly) suggested to me that I include recipes with my posts. The trouble is that I mostly use recipes as guidelines and make it up as I go. I like to look at a few recipes, compare ingredient lists, and go from there, generally simplifying instructions and reducing the quantity. My compromise for meals like this is to offer what I think of as preparation notes, rather than hard and fast recipes.
Notes/Recipe after the jump . . .
Aloo Saag
Serves: 1-2 people
Ingredients:
2 potatoes (I used russets), peeled and cut into approx. 1" chunks
1 bunch of spinach (I only used 1/2 a bunch, but I should have used all of it--the potato/spinach ratio was off)
3 tbl butter (substitute oil to make this vegan)
1" piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
either 1/2 or a whole onion (I used a half)
1/2 c. soy milk (I only used 1/4, but found myself wanting a looser consistency)
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. chili powder
dash of cayenne pepper
salt & pepper to taste
Step one: Boil a pot of water and add potatoes; cook until soft (about 10 min.); drain and set aside.
Step two: While potatoes are boiling, melt butter in a large frying pan; add garlic, ginger, and onion and cook on med. high heat until the garlic starts to brown and the onions begin to become translucent (about 5 min.); add damp spinach and cook until it wilts (about 3 min.); remove from heat.
Step three: Transfer spinach mixture to food processor and puree.
Step four: Move spinach mixture back to pan, add soy milk and spices and heat for a minute. Mix in potatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes to blend flavors. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. Add more soy milk to thin out the mixture as needed.
Notes: The spices in these quantities create a very mild curry. I've also omitted the traditional garam masala and green chili, since I didn't have these ingredients on hand. So the recipe isn't exactly authentic, but it was fairly tasty. It definitely could've used more of a kick, but I tend to pay for such indulgences later, alas. Other spices to use include: cumin seed, turmeric, curry powder (or masala, probably not both).
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