اَعُوْذُ بِاللهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيْمِ
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمن الرَّحِيْمِ
Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakaathu everyone!
Pretty much everyone has heard of saag aloo. This is a very popular vegetarian curry that all Pakistani and Indian restaurants and takeaways sell. Now I very rarely actually get saag aloo from takeaways because my mum is able to make a much nicer saag aloo curry at home and it ends up being cheaper and healthier. There always seems to be so much oil in takeaway curries!
This is a popular vegetarian curry and it is extremely easy to make. It is quite healthy as well. Obviously, you can adjust the spices to your taste as some people can’t handle spice and some people like their tongue to fall off. I fall more to the latter end of the scale. This curry isn’t too spicy but has just enough spices to complement the spinach and potatoes.
The size you cut the potatoes will determine how long the potatoes take to soften (obviously). I like to cut them small because it reduces the cooking time. I know some people like to add the potatoes before the spinach but the problem with that is my siblings hate it when the spinach is not properly smooth and pureed. I add it before to give it plenty of time to break down. My siblings (especially my older brother) are very picky eaters. Sometimes I boil the spinach separately and then put into a food processor to create a puree and then add that into the curry. That ensures that the saag is smooth and completely blended in, just the way my siblings like it.
I know a lot of recipes add coriander powder and cumin powder, but I feel like they don’t really add much to the dish, so I just omitted them. Feel free to add them if you like the taste of them. I’m not much of a fan of coriander powder or cumin powder if I am honest with you.
This potato and spinach curry is the perfect vegetarian curry for a quick and easy weeknight dinner!
Saag Aloo
This Pakistani spinach recipe makes the perfect palak saag aloo. A traditional and healthy spinach curry packed full of flavour. Soft potato chunks covered in a spinach gravy masala for a delicious spinach and potato curry. No South Asian buffet is complete without an array of spicy sides and this saag curry is definitely one you will want to make again and again. And what makes this aloo palak saag curry even better is that it is perfect for everyone’s dietary requirements from being vegan to dairy free to being gluten free! Serve with homemade naan bread or chapattis.
Ingredients
- 50ml Vegetable Oil
- 1 Onion/Pyaz (finely diced)
- 300g Spinach/Palak (finely chopped)
- 5 Garlic Cloves/Lehsan (chopped)
- 1 Tomato
- 300g Potatoes/Aloo
- 1 tsp Chilli Powder/Laal Mirch Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder/Haldi
- 1 tsp Salt/Namak
- 2 Green Chillies/Hari Mirch (finely chopped)
- Handful Coriander/Dhaniyaa (finely chopped)
Directions
- In a pan heat up the vegetable oil
- Add the finely diced onions and the salt then cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are slightly softened
- Add the chopped tomatoes and the garlic cloves
- Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes until everything is softened
- Add the chilli powder and turmeric powder
- Cook the spices for 10-15 minutes on medium heat – add a little bit of water to prevent the spices from burning
- Add the finely chopped green chillies
- Cook for a further 5 minutes
- Add the finely chopped spinach into the pan
- Mix the spices into the spinach
- Cover with a lid and cook for 15-20 minutes until the spinach has released its excess water
- Add the chopped potatoes
- Cover with a lid and cook for another 15 minutes until the potatoes are softened
- Add the coriander and cook for 1 minute
- Your saag aloo curry is ready!
