Lamb Saag

Submitted by Sarah

"Found this in a curry and chili cookbook. We actually didn't have any yoghurt the first time we made it. It was still great, just a little spicy. Edited the ingredients to change the amount of spinach - hopefully this amount will be more suitable :-)"

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 5mins
• Ingredients: 21
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• 1 long green chili
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 cm fresh ginger, grated
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 1 kg boneless lamb, cubed
• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 cardamom pods
• 2 onions, chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 bunch english spinach, de-stalked and finely shredded
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped
• 1⁄3 cup plain yogurt

directions

1. Remove seeds and white membrane from the chilli and chop finely.
2. Set aside with garlic and ginger.
3. Heat 2 Tbsp oil in frying pan and brown the lamb in batches, drain on paper towel.
4. In a dry frying pan combine fenugreek, cumin, mustard, cinnamon and cardamon.
5. Cook for 1 minute or until seeds start to pop.
6. Set aside. Heat remaining oil and cook onion until softened, 3-4 minutes, then add roasted spices.
7. Add garlic, ginger, chilie, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, coriander and bay leaves to onion.
8. Cook for 1 minute, then add lamb and stock.
9. Bring to boil then reduce heat to low and cook, covered for 1 1/4 hours.
10. Stirring occasionally.
11. Add spinach and salt, cook for 5 more minutes or until spinach is wilted.
12. Stir in coriander and yoghurt, discard cinnamon stick and bay leaves and serve.

Reviews

[Eh Jay]

Great recipe! I had been inspired by another (much fussier) recipe combining lamb and spinach when I saw this one. I'm glad I did and I served it to some friends that we'd spent a year in India with. Tough crowd and we all gave it two thumbs up. Made it "as is" except that it seemed that 900g spinach was a bit much so used a 1lb bag torn up. I will also make sure that the chili is a hotter one and adding the potatoe sounds like a good idea, depending on what you serve this dish with.

 

[Devina K.]

The simplest yet tastiest lamb saag recipe. I've made this a few times now and have increased the quantity of spices, added black cardamom to the spices dry roasted in the pan and a few fresh tomatoes during the cooking of the lamb. It's always been a crowd pleaser! btw. in response to a previous comment, I prefer whole spices, so using whole fenugreek was perfect. The yoghurt helps to mellow the bitterness.

 

[mcrawshaw2012]

Surely this should be fenugreek powder and not seeds? Seeds are very bitter even after frying. This spoils the dish - very bitter.

 

[kirsten.johnson]

We like spicy Indian dishes, so I substituted ghost pepper for the green chili and added more fresh ginger (about 5Tablespoons) and tumeric (fresh rather than ground). I also substituted vegetable broth for the beef broth and used coconut oil for all the frying (so it's a healthy oil). We could not stop sipping the broth as it was simmering! Thank you for this recipe! It is better than any saag I've had at restaurants.

 

[Hadyn N.]

Took this to a dinner party as my first curry I've made. Tweaked a few minor details but was great recipe to follow. Delicious flavours. Thanks