Spicy Saag Aloo Food

SPICY SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Boil a medium pan of salted water over high heat.
• Once boiling, add rice and cook for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain, then return to pan. Cover and set aside.
• Pick coriander leaves and finely chop stalks. Peel and finely chop onion, then chop everything together.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and coriander and fry for 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Add curry paste and stir, frying for 1 minute.
• Cook gently, while you wash and chop potatoes into 2cm chunks. Finely chop tomatoes, then add to pan with the potato and enough hot water to almost cover them. Cover pan and cook for 15 minutes, or until almost soft.
• Trim and pick lettuce leaves, then put aside. Peel and crush garlic, halve and deseed chilli, then chop together.
• Test potatoes with the tip of a sharp knife - if they're nearly tender, remove lid, increase heat and cook for 5 minutes, until thickened.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds, garlic and chilli, then fry gently for 1 minute, or until golden.
• Add spinach to the potato, cover and reduce heat to medium. Cook for 2 minutes, or until spinach has wilted. Add half the chilli oil and stir through.
• Taste and season. Divide the rice and curry between plates. Scatter with coriander and serve with lettuce leaves and yoghurt, drizzling chilli and garlic oil over everything just before you eat.

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Heat 2 tbsp sunflower oil in a large pan, add 1 finely chopped onion, 2 sliced garlic cloves and 1 tbsp chopped ginger, and fry for about 3 mins.
• Stir in 500g potatoes, cut into 2cm chunks, 1 halved, deseeded and finely sliced red chilli, ½ tsp black mustard seeds, ½ tsp cumin seeds, ½ tsp turmeric and ½ tsp salt and continue cooking and stirring for 5 mins more.
• Add a splash of water, cover, and cook for 8-10 mins.
• Check the potatoes are ready by spearing with the point of a knife, and if they are, add 250g spinach leaves and let it wilt into the pan. Take off the heat and serve.

SAAG PANEER

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together the turmeric, cayenne, 1 teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons oil. Gently, drop in the cubes of paneer and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes if you're using the homemade kind. Let the cubes marinate while you get the rest of your ingredients together and prepped.
• Thaw the spinach in the microwave in a microwave-safe dish, 5 minutes on high, then puree in a food processor until smooth. Alternatively, you can chop it up very finely with your knife.
• Place a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and add the paneer as the pan warms. In a couple of minutes give the pan a toss; each piece of paneer should be browned on one side. Fry another minute or so, and then remove the paneer from the pan onto a plate.
• Add the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil to the pan. Add the onions, ginger, garlic and chile. Now here's the important part: saute the mixture until it's evenly toffee-coloured, which should take about 15 minutes. Don't skip this step - this is the foundation of the dish! If you feel like the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.
• Add the garam masala, coriander and cumin. If you haven't already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spices from burning. Cook, stirring often, until the raw scent of the spices cook out, and it all smells a bit more melodious, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add the spinach and stir well, incorporating the spiced onion mixture into the spinach. Add a little salt and 1/2 cup of water, stir, and cook about 5 minutes with the lid off.
• Turn the heat off. Add the yogurt, a little at a time to keep it from curdling. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the paneer. Turn the heat back on, cover and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes. Serve.
• Line a large colander with a large double layer of cheesecloth, and set it in your sink.
• In a large wide pot, bring the milk to a gentle boil over medium heat, stirring frequently to avoid burning the bottom (a nonstick pot works really well for this purpose). This will take a little while so be patient!
• Add the lemon juice and turn the heat down to low. Stirring gently, you should almost immediately see the curds (white milk solids) and whey (the greenish liquid) separate. Don't fret, this is perfect!
• Remove the pot from the heat and carefully pour the contents into the cheesecloth-lined colander. Gently rinse with cool water to get rid of the lemon flavor. At this point, you could squeeze out some of the liquid, and serve with some honey and some nuts, almost like a fresh ricotta!
• Grab the ends of the cheesecloth and twist the ball of cheese to squeeze out the excess whey. Tie the cheesecloth to your kitchen faucet and allow the cheese to drain for about 5 minutes.
• Twisting the ball to compact the cheese into a block, place it on a plate with the twisted part of the cheesecloth on the side (this will ensure your block of cheese is nice and smooth!) and set another plate on top. Weigh the second plate down with cans of beans or a heavy pot. Move to the refrigerator and let it sit about 20 minutes.
• Combine the cinnamon sticks, cloves, green cardamom seeds, black cardamom seeds, if using into a spice grinder or coffee grinder and grind until fine. Store the spice mix in an airtight container away from direct sunlight.

SPICED SALMON WITH TRAYBAKED SAG ALOO

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling salted water for 6 mins. Drain in a colander and leave to steam dry for a few mins. Toss the potatoes in a roasting tin with 1 tbsp oil, the turmeric, ground cumin and chilli flakes and plenty of seasoning. Roast for 20 mins, tossing halfway through. Boil the kettle.
• Put the spinach in a colander and pour over boiling water until wilted. Use the back of a wooden spoon to squeeze out most of the water. Rub the salmon generously with the spice paste and drizzle with oil. Stir the spinach through the potatoes and top with the salmon, skin-side down. Increase the heat to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Return to the oven for 20-25 mins or until the salmon is just cooked. Remove the salmon to stir the cream into the potatoes, then replace the salmon and serve with lemon wedges for squeezing over.

SPICY POTATOES (RASADAR ALOO)

Steps:

• Wash the potatoes and dry them, lightly peel the skins if necessary.
• Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the cumin seeds and asafetida and let them sizzle for a few seconds.
• Add the tomatoes, turmeric, ground coriander, chilli, paprika and salt; fry for 30 seconds, stirring constantly (sprinkle on a little water if things start to stick to the bottom of the pan).
• Add the potatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes, again stirring constantly.
• Add the water, bring to the boil then lower the heat, cover and cook for about 15 minutes until the potatoes are tender (keep an eye on things in case you need to add a bit more water); now stir in the garam masala.
• Remove from heat and serve garnished with the coriander leaves.

SIMPLE SAG ALOO (INDIAN POTATO AND SPINACH)

Steps:

• Defrost the spinach and drain well. Squeeze it to get rid of as much moisture as possible.
• Meanwhile, boil the cubed potatoes until they are almost cooked through (but not falling apart). Drain well.
• Heat the oil in a large pan or wok and, when hot, add the potatoes and all the spices, stirring to coat everything.
• When the potatoes have started to crisp up slightly, add the garlic and tomatoes and stir for a few more seconds, then add the spinach.
• If using fresh spinach, you want it to be just wilted, or with frozen, warmed through.
• Taste and adjust seasoning as required then serve immediately.

SAAG ALOO

Steps:

• Fry the cumin seeds in a heavy bottomed pan in a bit of oil and butter until just starting to brown.
• Add the onion and fry until it too starts to brown.
• Add the potato, garlic, turmeric, ginger and garam masala and fry until the potato starts to soften.
• Unless you are using a non-stick pan, you may need to add water and cover to keep the potato from sticking and to help it cook. The first time I did this 1/2 cup at a time and it took about 20-30 minutes but I now prefer to parboil the potatoes, which means you add less water and it only takes about 10 minutes to finish off from this point.
• Add the spinach or chard and cook until it collapses over the potato.
• Salt to taste.