Divine Indian Spinach Food

SAAG (INDIAN SPINACH)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, saute onion in oil on medium high along with ginger and garam masala until onions are translucent and begin to pick up some color.
• Add minced garlic to pan, and cook briefly to soften. Do not allow the garlic to burn - lower heat if necessary.
• Add tomatoes and cook for 2-3 minutes. Incidentally, you can add a little more or less tomato depending on what you have available, slight differences in quantity will not be noticeable.
• Stir in yogurt. Do not worry if the yogurt separates.
• Add curry powder, coriander, cumin, sugar, and salt.
• Add bag of frozen spinach and mix well to combine. There is no need to defrost first if you use a the bagged spinach. If you are using the frozen block, I would advise defrosting first. You can also use the equivalent of fresh spinach.
• Add about a cup of water to the pot and cover. Simmer on medium for approximately 30 minutes. Spinach is done when the color has changed from the initial bright green to a much less vibrant green (almost brownish). If you crank up the heat, it is possible to cook this a little faster, but you have to pay attention to the moisture level. You may have to add more water throughout the cooking process if it cooks off.
• Once the spinach is fully cooked, remove the lid and cook off any remaining liquid. The spinach should be moist, but there should not be much liquid free in the bottom of the pan.
• Remove pan from heat.
• Using an immersion blender, blender, or food processor, puree the spinach. Leave it as chunky as you like. You can also choose to puree only half of the mixture if you like bigger pieces of spinach.
• Add further salt to taste.
• I have found that I have to fine tune the spices every time I make this dish depending on how I feel that day. For me, adding further small amounts of coriander is the key.
• If you like, potatoes, paneer cubes or chick peas may be added at this point.
• ***NOTE*** It is very helpful to prepare all ingredients in advance of cooking so that they can be added quickly during the cooking process. I recommend combining the components of each step beforehand (i.e. pre-measuring the spices together) so that you can just dump everything in quickly as you go.

DIVINE INDIAN SPINACH

Steps:

• wash, chop, and steam spinach.
• wash and chop cilantro, discarding lower stems.
• heat ghee in saucepan on medium-high setting.
• once ghee is hot, add mustard seed.
• once mustard seeds pop, add chopped onion and sautee till translucent.
• reduce heat to medium-low; add to pan the steamed spinach, cumin, coriander, salt, and cayenne.
• remove pan from heat and add chopped cilantro, stir.
• serve with your favorite indian main dish.

INDIAN SPINACH AND POTATOES

Steps:

• Put the potatoes in a large pot of salted water and bring to a boil. Boil over moderate heat until tender when pierced with a knife, about 25 minutes. Drain and let cool, then halve the potatoes.
• Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, bring the water to a boil. Working in batches, add the spinach by handfuls and cook over moderately high heat until wilted. Using tongs, transfer the spinach to a colander and repeat with the remaining spinach. Squeeze the spinach dry, then transfer it to a food processor and puree. Wipe out the skillet.
• Heat the oil in the same skillet. Add the onion and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeños and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes and cilantro and cook over moderate heat until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, paprika and garam masala to the skillet and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes.
• Slowly stir in the yogurt. Add the potatoes and a large pinch of salt, cover and cook over moderately low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the pureed spinach and stir well. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes to blend the flavors. Season with salt. Transfer the potatoes and spinach to a platter or bowl, garnish with the cilantro leaves and serve.