Chicken with spinach curry (Chicken saag)

Chicken with spinach curry
(Chicken saag)

Chicken saag (Chicken curry with spinach) is one of the delicious north Indian traditional dish. It is an amazing combination of chicken and spinach. When chicken and spinach cooked together with onion, garlic and tomatoes it makes an awesome main meal dish. It provides protein and vegetable into one dish.

Chicken is well liked all over India, and every reign has different style of cooking. Chicken is cooked with different combination of vegetables. Chicken saag is a wonderful blend of chicken curry and spinach. Serve this tasty dish with Naan, chapattis and rice.

Ingredient:

1   10 oz frozen chopped Spinach pack or 2 pounds fresh chopped spinach
1 Pound boneless chicken thighs or Chicken breast
2    Medium Onions
1    Tablespoon minced garlic
2    Medium size ripe tomato or 2 tablespoons tomato sauce.
1    Medium green chili - chopped
2    Tablespoons plain yogurt (optional)
1    Tablespoon fresh grated ginger
2    Teaspoons coriander powder
½   Teaspoon red chili powder
½   Teaspoon turmeric powder
½   Teaspoon garam masala or to your taste
2     Small Bay Leaves
3    Tablespoons vegetable oil
1    Tablespoon melted butter or Ghee
1½ Salt or to your taste
2    Tablespoons chopped coriander leaves

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Onions, Tomatoes, Ginger. Garlic, Green chili, Bay leaves, Yogurt & coriander leaves

Boneless Chicken thighs

Directions:

1. Thaw the spinach. If using fresh spinach then wash and chop the spinach.
(I cooked frozen chopped Spinach)

Thawed chopped spinach

Fresh chopped Spinach

2. Wash the Chicken well. (If you do not want to wash Chicken then skip this
step)

3. Trim away excess fat and cut into one inch pieces and place it in a bowl. (I
cooked boneless thighs because thigh meat stay soft after cooking and breast
meat becomes little hard. I also think it is easier to cut the chicken with scissor
then knife.)

Wash the Chicken well

Trim the fat & cut the chicken into pieces

4. Use a food chopper or blender to mince the onions and garlic. Mixture should
be coarse.

In a chopper add onions & garlic

Minced onion and garlic

5. On high heat add the oil in a nonstick frying pan or heavy bottom stainless
    steel pan. Add minced onion and garlic and sauté, while periodically stirring.
    Onions will have a lot of water so for the first 8 to 10 minutes keep the heat
    high so that all the onion water evaporates quickly.

In a pan add oil, minced & Garlic & fry

Mix onion with oil and fry

6. While onion mixture cooks add the tomato to the same food chopper or blender
and puree.

In the chopper add tomatoes

Puree tomatoes

7. Once all the water evaporated from the onions reduce the heat to medium and
fry for 8 to 10 minutes or until onions become light brown.

8. Add coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder and mix with fried
onions and fry for few seconds.

Onion become light brown

Add Coriander powder, Red chili powder & Turmeric powder

9. Add tomato puree or tomato sauce and yogurt, mix everything together. With the tomatoes and yogurt onion masala becomes watery, turn the heat to high for 2 to 3 minutes, so that water evaporates quickly and then turn the heat down.

Mix the spices with fried Onions

Add Tomato puree

Mix tomato puree with fried onions & spices

Add yogurt

10. Frequently keep stirring the onion masala, once all the water evaporated
and you see the oil in the pan that means onion masala is done.

Mix yogurt well with onion masala

Onion masala is ready

11. Now add thawed or chopped spinach, salt Bay leaves, and 1 cup of water mix
them together, cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes
or until spinach change its green color to yellowish green

Add chopped spinach

Add salt, Bay leaves

12. Add 1 cup of water mix them together.

Add water

Mix spinach well with onion masala

13. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until spinach change its green color to yellowish green.

Cover the pan and cook

Chicken pieces

14. Spinach is cooked and it become yellowish green.

15. Now add chicken pieces add more water if required, cover the pan and
cook for about 10 minutes. (Chicken does not take long to cook and you do
not want to over cook the chicken),

Spinach is cooked

Add chicken pieces

Mix chicken well with the spinach

Cover the pan and cook

16. Check if chicken is cooked

Chicken spinach are cooked

Check if Chicken is tender

17. Add grated ginger and chopped green chilies, sprinkle some garam masala
and mix with the chicken and spinach and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes.
While cooking keep string periodically

Add grated ginger and chopped green chilies

Add garam masla and mix

18. Once chicken and spinach is cooked and you have desired consistency add
1 tablespoon melted butter or ghee, mix and fry for 5 minutes. Spinach and
chicken should not be too watery it should have thick consistency. (If you wish
   skip adding butter)

19. Once you have the desired taste and consistency turn the stove off. When
  ready to serve remove bay leaf and transfer the curry in a serving dish and
  garnish with coriander leaves.

Add butter and mix

Chicken spinach curry is ready

Chicken with spinach curry

Tips:

1. You can adjust the amount of Chicken and Spinach according to your taste or
preference.

2. One pound of fresh spinach will yield 10-12 cups of torn leaves, which will cook down to about 1 cup. One package (10 ounces) of frozen spinach leaves yields about 1-1/2 cups after cooking. Therefore, you can substitute 1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach leaves for 1-1/2 pounds of fresh spinach.

Please take the time to let me know what you think about my recipe. Your comments would be helpful to me to improve the recipe.

Thank you

Geeta Seth

Other recipes:

Chicken keema with spinach                        Spinach with mushroom

Beef keema with spinach                              Spinach with paneer (palak paneer)

Beef with spinach curry                               Spinach with aloo (Aloo palak )

Boiled white rice                                          Chapatti (Pulkha or roti)