How do I make good Indian Sag?!
Answers: Every time I try to make Sag Paneer, the Sag never tastes as good as it does in a restaurant. Restaurant Sag has a sort of creamy taste and mine just tastes like, well, spinach with some Indian spices. Any clues on what I am doing wrong or a website with some tips? I follow my Madhur Jaffrey (sp?) cookbook to the letter, but still not as good as going out.
Saag is actually not spinach but a bitter leafy green found in India, Indian restaurants in this country used either canned or frozen saag OR mustard greens, broccoli leaves combined with spinach.
If you use only spinach, it will never taste like the restaurant. Try a combination of mustard greens and spinach (50/50), you will taste the difference!
Saag Paneer
Ingredients:
1 pound spinach
1 pound mustard greens
2 tbsp oil or melted ghee
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1 large finely chopped onion
2 tsps chickpea flour
1/2 pound baby spinach
1 tsp salt
1 pound paneer cut into small cubes
1 cup full cream
Method:
Wash and clean the mustard greens & spinach. Trim the stems. In a large pot, boil salted water add the spinach/mustard greens and blanch for couple of minutes.
Drain the mustard greens & spinach well. Chop and make a fine paste using the food processor. Wash, clean and chop baby spinach, keep aside.
Heat oil in a pan, add cumin when it starts to crackle add garlic and stir fry until golden brown, add onion, ginger and saute until light brown, then add chickpea flour and mix well to avoid lumps, stir fry until oil leaves the sides of pan, then add minced spinach, chopped baby spinach, salt, chili powder and paneer, cover and let it simmer for 10 minutes on low heat. finish with cream and serve hot with Tandoori roti or rice.
PS: Most Indians find MJ's cooking & recipes to be too "Americanized" or "Anglicized", it's not very authentic.
Madhur Jaffrey is adorable! I miss her BBC show on TVOntario. Try adding more cheese or ghee. I've seen versions with chicken stock added as well.
http://www.indiasnacks.com/recipe/662/Sa...
this recipe for Saag was given to me by my mother who was Anglo Indian
2lbs Spinach
1 large onion
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Green Chilli finely chopped
1 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon Salt
? teaspoon Sugar
4 fl oz Water
? teaspoon Garam Masala
Heat oil in a large frying pan or wok. When hot put in onions and fry for 3 minutes. Add all the other ingredients and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on a low heat for 10 minutes. Uncover and boil away some of the extra liquid.
I found this recipe for saag paneer online so you might like to try this.
Saag Paneer
2 pounds fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
1/4 cup ghee, recipe follows
1/2 pound cubed paneer cheese
2 yellow onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder, recipe follows
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
Salt
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, toss in the spinach and blanch for 1 minute until very tender. Dump the spinach into a colander and press firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, set aside.
Heat the ghee in a deep skillet over medium-high flame. Add the cubed paneer and fry for a couple of minutes until light brown on all sides, gently turning to avoid breaking up the cubes. Remove the cheese from the skillet and set aside.
Return the skillet to the heat and sauté the onions, garlic, and ginger; cook and stir for about 5 minutes until soft. Sprinkle the mixture with the curry powder; continue to stir to marry the flavors, about 1 minute. Fold in the chopped spinach and give everything a good toss. Shut off the heat and stir the buttermilk and yogurt into the spinach to incorporate. The mixture should be creamy and somewhat thick. Gently fold in the fried paneer cubes, season with salt, to taste, and serve with steamed basmati rice and/or flat bread.
They usually mix in sour cream with the spinach.
Also try a spot of liquid smoke.
I wonder what you ate in restaurants was "Sarsson ka saag" or "Palak paneer"?.Next time pay attention to the name and you can find many recipes for sarsoon ka saag as well as for the palak paneer.
Good luck.