Saag Chicken

Submitted by AngeNZ

"I searched high and low for this recipe before coming across it on askpalakkad.com. It was so good I must share it with you to save the hassle of trying to find it yourself! This truly is delicious!! Add a few cardamom seeds to the rice for a truly authentic Indian taste! Note: This is quite spicy. If you do not like spicy food, adjust the amount of cayenne pepper (e.g. 1/4 tsp cayenne)."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 5mins
• Ingredients: 19
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 3 lbs skinless chicken pieces, cubed
• 4 tablespoons oil
• 48 ounces spinach, washed & chopped
• 1⁄4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 inch gingerroot, minced
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 large onions (minced or extremely finely chopped)
• 1 (400 g) can crushed tomatoes
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 2 whole cloves
• 2 big cardamom pods
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• 2 tablespoons butter

directions

1. Fry the chicken in 4 tbs oil for around 3-4 minutes until lightly browned and set aside.
2. Put the spinach in a pot, add 1/4C water.
3. Bring to the boil and remove from heat.
4. When cool, grind very well (almost to a paste) in blender and set aside.
5. Heat the remaining 3 tbs oil in a pan and add ginger, garlic and onions.
6. Fry until lightly brown.
7. Add tomatoes, salt, cayenne pepper, ground coriander, turmeric, cloves and cardamom.
8. Sprinkle with 1 tbs water.
9. Cook for 10 minutes on a low heat.
10. Add chicken and milk to the pan.
11. Simmer until the chicken is tender (about 10 minutes).
12. Add spinach and garam masala to the pan.
13. Cook until spinach starts sticking to the pan (about 15 minutes).
14. Remove from heat, add butter and cover until ready to serve with rice.

Reviews

[artistclogger]

Great choices of spices/ingredients for a very tasty Saag! As a huge fan of saag (saagwala), I have several recipes for chicken saag, and like some of the other raters of this particular recipe, like it very spicey. That said, I doubled the garlic, ginger, and spices. I also prefer a saag that produces more "gravy," thus added about 1/2 cup yogurt plus 1/2 cup chicken broth (at the end), and heated it through. The flavor of this spice combination is very close to what I have also been looking for. My DH also loved it. Added about 1/2 cup cooked sliced mushrooms to the mix. Thank you for sharing a recipe for saag that truly provides the "melded" spices that taste like those we've had in the best East Indian restaurants.

 

[Olomaya]

This was good. I switched out the milk for yogurt and the butter for ghee (clarified butterfat that is commonly used in Indian dishes). I also reduced the amount of oil to 4 tbsp in total. I think next time I will increase the spice mix as I don't think it's enough. It's a good recipe to start with and I think with a little tweaking it could be a great 5-star dish. Thanks for this, MilliesMum!

 

[PansiesForThoughts]

AMAZING! I changed it a little by frying all the spices, then the chicken, then putting in the frozen spinach. Would definitely eat again.

 

[zaar junkie]

Good recipe. I veganized it by using a block of tofu instead of the chicken pieces, soymilk in place of regular milk, and earth balance for butter. I doubled the amount of cayenne pepper since we like things a little more spicy, and could really have added a bit more (we also added freshly ground black pepper). Immediately after cooking (and before adding the butter), we tried it, and it did taste rather bland. The butter is key in giving it a creamy texture. We liked the addition of butter so much, we doubled the amount of butter for an even creamier saag. I simmered it for about 30 minutes and let sit for about an hour. The flavors of this dish got better and better the longer we waited. Best the next day. This recipe was a bit more labor-intensive and time-consuming than I normally like (and created quite a bit of dishes), but I would make this again by special request. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

 

[Tara Kirkland]

It tasted nothing like saagwala I've had at Indian restaurants. I doubled the spices per other reviews, but still found it severely lacking in flavor. It was also very dry to the point that there were no juices for the rice to soak up. That being said, it was edible once we added some chicken broth to the mix. It just didn't taste at all like a typical saagwala.