Saag Paneer
Cooking your favorite Indian recipes at home is much easier than you might think. I love using the cookbook by Raghavan Iyer, 660 curries as an excellent resource. Spring is the time of year we eat lots of saag paneer because we have so much spinach available. (We also use kale or chard if we don’t have spinach as abundantly available.) We use paneer made from our goat’s milk, but the saag is really the hero of this recipe. Paneer is also easy to make, but If you don’t eat cheese or have access to paneer, substitute the paneer for chickpeas (chana saag) or potatoes (saag aloo). The Rutland Co-op and Little Haveli carry many of the ingredients needed for this recipe if you don’t already have them. Also, we find that these curries are better the next day, after the spices all sit and “get to know each other” well. If we ever plan ahead (which is rare) we cook this a day before we serve it… and if we don’t, we just really look forward to leftover day.
1 pound spinach (this is 3 CSA bags)
2 small to medium onions
2-3 inches ginger root
3-4 garlic cloves
3 TBSP butter, ghee, or olive oil
2 TBSP cumin
1 TBSP garam masala
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3 cups milk (or any milk substitute if you are dairy free)
2 cups cubed paneer (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas, or 2 cups chopped, cooked potatoes)
Blend the onions, ginger, and garlic in a food processor to create a paste. Heat the butter (or ghee or olive oil) in a large pot, and add the onion/garlic/ginger paste and salt. Sauté about 10 minutes over a medium heat, stirring periodically to keep from sticking. Add the cumin, garam masala, and coriander, and sauté for another minute. Reduce the heat to low, cram all the spinach in the pot, and add one cup of milk. Put a lid on the pot and let the spinach wilt down until you can stir it all together well. Then cook on low until the spinach is fully cooked. Either use an immersion blender, or transfer everything back into the food processor, to blend everything until it is smooth. Back in the pot, keep it at a low heat and add the rest of the milk, along with the maple syrup and lemon juice. (It’s important for this step to be done at a low heat so it doesn’t curdle when you add the lemon juice.) At this point I taste it, and make any adjustments with salt, lemon juice or maple syrup. When you are satisfied with the sauce, add the paneer (or chickpeas or potatoes). Serve warm over rice. Enjoy!