Saag Aloo
Spinach with Potatoes and Indian Spices
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Heat
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Serves
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Dietary Info
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Prep 10 mins
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Cook 25 mins
Potatoes cooked simply with vibrant green spinach leaves and flavoured with aromatic cumin.
Hari says
Saag Aloo is another one of those UK favourites which isn't really a dish you would find traditional Indian cuisine. That said, it's easy, healthy, and a great way to get some more spinach into your diet. By themselves, these two ingredients are a bit boring, but once you get the masala and spices in that's when you start to see how lovely and flavourful Saag Aloo really is.
I have different versions of this Saag Aloo recipe – one where I purée the spinach and another where I add paneer. Give it a go, it tastes great and probably much fresher than the dishes you're used to eating. With a quick cooking time, it’s convenient to rustle up in your own kitchen for a quick mid-week Indian food-fix.
- Ingredients
- Method
- 1 tbsp mustard oil
- 1 tsp mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- Pinch asafoetida
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger, thinly sliced
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 600g baby spinach, finely sliced
- 4 potatoes, peeled & chopped into 3cm cubes (go for floury potatoes such as maris pipers, waxy ones will take longer to cook)
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 1 or 2 chillies, finely sliced
- 1 tsp garam masala
Method
- Heat the oil in a karahi or wok. Add the mustard seeds, and just as they begin to pop, add the cumin seeds and asafoetida.
- Add the garlic and ginger and fry for a few minutes on a gentle heat. Then stir in the tomatoes, chilli and salt to taste.
- Cook the tomatoes on the same heat until they have turned to a soft pulp. Then add the cubed potatoes and stir them gently to coat them in the sauce. Don't be too heavy-handed as you don't want to mash the cooked potatoes.
- Reduce the heat and place a lid on the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, remembering to stir occasionally. You may need to add a splash of water halfway through to stop the potatoes sticking to the pan and leave to cook.
- Once the potatoes have just turned soft (time depends on the potatoes your have used) , add the spinach to the pan and stir gently.
- Cook for a further few minutes until the spinach has wilted down. If there is any liquid in the pan at this point, just increase the heat to dry the dish out.
- Sprinkle the garam masala over the top before serving.
Served with
An amazing side dish, works really well with a lamb main dish, but also lovely as a dish in its own right. If you fancy doing a lamb madras along with you Saag Aloo I have a convenient madras spice kit you could try.
Nutritional information
| Typical values* | per Serving |
|---|---|
| Calories | 48 |
| Fat (g) | 1.9 |
| of which saturates (g) | 0.2 |
| Carbohydrates (g) | 6.2 |
| of which sugars (g) | 1.5 |
| Fibre (g) | 1.6 |
| Protein (g) | 2.3 |
| Salt (mg) | 0.76 |
This goes well with
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Comments
Comments (19)
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Amreet thanks so much for using the website - thanks for trying the dishes and leaving a comment too. Thanks
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Ben
It is not saag . It is just spinal and aaloo vegetable-
Hari Ghotra
Thanks Ben not this is saag http://www.harighotra.co.uk/saag-recipe and there are many ways you can make saag aloo, I prefer this method but I like using pureed spinach with paneer. This is the beauty of cooking and with the website I am hoping to give you options, new ideas and inspiration to get you cooking great Indian food. Thanks for your comments Hari
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Hari Ghotra
Hi Jim You can get it on line (spices of India) and if you live anywhere close to an Indian grocery shop they will definitely have it. If you cant find it then just use veg oil. Mustard oil just gives an extra bite to this dish. Its made by pressing mustard seeds so not something I would recommend making yourself. Really good to hear you are enjoying the recipes. Let me know how yo get on. Thanks Hari -
Jim
Hi Hari
love these recipes, the chicken tikka masala is fantastic, any idea where I can pick up some mustard oil or can I make it myself.
Jim -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Ella sorry for the late reply the cauliflower will make a great substitution and it should work fine with the recipe - do let me know how it turned out. Thanks for getting in touch. Hari -
Ella
I absolutely love your recipes. Very simple and delicious with lots of flavor. I look forward to trying this one tonight, but planning on substituting the potatoes with cauliflower. Would the process still be the same or are there any changes I need to make to accomodate the substitution?
Thank you! :-) -
Cecilia
This was delicious! -
Hari Ghotra
Hi Waleed I was about to mention the potato in the previous comment. More waxy potatoes do take longer - Thanks for the info I will amend the recipe with some more information. Thanks very much. Hari -
Waleed Mahmoud
Good recipe, I like it. Only issue is that the "Cook for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally" seems to be underestimated. I had used red potatoes, cut into thinner slices - it took closer to 22m. Might be fair to add a potato (and even tomato) type & weight to clear that up. Flavor was spot on though. -
Hari
Hi Waleed
Fantastic to hear you will be cooking my dishes! Thanks for the feedback - this has now been amended!
Would love to know how you get on so do keep in touch. Thanks Hari -
Waleed Mahmoud
Starting a run of cooking all of your recipes. Seriously appreciate a cooking blog.
Garam masala isn't mentioned in the instructions on this one - I assume it's added at the last moment. -
Hari
Hi Harry Great top hear that you have been trying the dishes. Which potatoes did you use? A Maris Piper will usually cook fairly quickly but if you have more waxy ones then yes you may be better off par boiling them. Thanks so much for your comments. Cheers Hari -
Harry
Cooked this tonight, liked the looks of the mustard seeds and the fact that the spinach was still bright green with a bit of crunch - not bad at all - potatoes seemed to age ages though, might precook them next still...thanks - nice variation! H -
Hari
Hi Douglas Thanks for the compliments, I am so pleased you will be coming back to the site. I think this is lovely with tomatoes and works really well with the spinach. I would love to hear what you choose next so please let me know. Thanks Hari -
Douglas
Thank you for the recipe.
Never would have guessed to put tomatoes in it .... But loved the texture this gives
All delicious.
Great instructions. .... Easy to follow.
Will be coming back again to find other recipes.
Thank you
D -
Hari
I'm really please you found this easy and tasty. With all of my recipes use them as a guide and spice them up or down depending on how you like it. Really glad to hear you will be cooking it again though. -
Jack Catford
I made this last week, it was a lot hotter than what I am used to but still better than a takeaway, I was surprised at how easy it was, I will definitely be making this again, maybe minus the chillies!
Amreet Notta
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