Every Indian restaurant has a version of this popular curry. Don’t be alarmed at what seems like a mountain of spinach in the beginning — it all wilts down to create a rich, tasty curry. One serving of this will probably give you more greens than most people would have in a whole week.
Chicken saagwala
| ¼ cup | Vegetable oil |
| 2 | Onions, sliced |
| 1 Tbsp | Ground cumin |
| 1 tsp | Ground chilli, or 2 tsp depending on how hot you like it |
| ¼ tsp | Ground cloves |
| ½ tsp | Ground turmeric |
| 5 cm | Ginger, piece, grated |
| 3 | Garlic cloves, crushed |
| 300 g | Spinach leaves, fresh, choppped (Main) |
| 1 | Green chilli, large, chopped |
| 400 g | Crushed tomatoes, canned |
| 800 g | Boneless chicken thighs, skinless, cut into large chunks (Main) |
| 2 Tbsp | Cream, optional |
| 1 | Lemon, to juice |
| 1 to serve | Naan bread |
Raita
| 3 | Tomatoes, chopped |
| ½ | Telegraph cucumbers, seeds removed, chopped |
| ½ | Red onions, finely chopped |
| 1 handful | Fresh mint, chopped |
| 1 cup | Natural yoghurt, unsweetened |
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Directions
- Heat oil in a large frying pan, gently fry the onions until golden, about 5 minutes.
- Add spices, garlic and ginger and fry a further 2 minutes.
- Wilt fresh spinach by blanching in boiling water or steaming in microwave. Squeeze out excess water and puree spinach with tomatoes, cooked onions and spices.
- Heat a little more oil in the same pan and fry chicken pieces until lightly browned.
- Add spinach puree to chicken and simmer on medium heat until chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Season with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
- Drizzle cream over curry just before serving. Serve curry as part of a shared meal with naan bread and raita.
- For the raita, mix all ingredients together and season to taste.
