Page Contents: Recipe
Saag is an Indian dish typically made with leafy green vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens, and collard greens. It’s cooked with a bunch of spices and is traditionally served with naan and roti bread. Who knew veggies could taste so good! Â
My memories of saag come from Brick Lane in London, where you could find a street full of curry and tandoori restaurants ready to take your order. It was definitely not for the faint of heart. Touts would line the streets with their menus hoping to catch your attention and steal you from the competition. They would often entice you in with the offer of free beer or wine. The food was always delicious. Deceptively small bowls of curry would be placed on your table along with perfectly cooked rice and bread. You never walked away hungry.      Â
Chicken saag is one of my favourite types of curry. After making it on the stove a few times, I thought I’d try it in the Thermomix. I’m not a big fan of biting into whole spices while eating, so the Thermomix is great for blending the spinach and spices into a smooth sauce. This version is mild – so those that don’t like the heat will find it easy to eat.
Chicken Saag (Saagwala)
Ingredients
- 5 black peppercorns
- 4 cloves
- 4 pods cardamom
- 4 cloves garlic peeled
- 4 cm piece of ginger peeled and halved
- 1 large onion peeled, quartered
- 20 g vegetable oil
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala powder
- 3 tomatoes quartered
- 3 bunches spinach (~900g) trimmed, washed and chopped into quarters
- 1 tbsp Thermomix vegetable stock concentrate
- 600 g chicken breast chopped into 3cm pieces
- Salt to season
Instructions
- Put peppercorns (5), cloves (4) and cardamom (4) into the Thermomix bowl and roast with the measuring cup (MC) off for 3 minutes | 100C | Reverse | Speed 1; remove to a small bowl
- Put garlic cloves, ginger and onion into the Thermomix bowl, chop for 5 seconds | Speed 5
- Add oil (20g) and cook with the MC off for 2 minutes | 100C | Speed 1
- Add whole spices plus coriander powder (1tsp), cumin powder (1 tsp), and garam masala powder (1tbsp) into the bowl and cook with the MC off for 7 minutes | 100C | Speed 1
- Add tomatoes and chop for 3 seconds | Speed 5
- Cook with MC off for 10 minutes | 100C | Speed 1
- Add 1/3 of the spinach and stock and cook with MC off for 3 minutes | 100C | Speed 1; use the spatula to mix the spinach into the sauce
- Add another third of the spinach and cook with MC off for 2 minutes | 100C | Speed 1; use the spatula to mix the spinach into the sauce
- Repeat step 8 with the last of the spinach
- Blend spinach mixture with MC on; going slowly from Speed 1 to 8 for 30 seconds
- Add chicken and cook with MC half off for 15 minutes | 100C | Reverse| Speed soft
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[Last updated: July 7, 2013]
I love Saag! Cant wait to make this one!
I am making this tomorrow night! Looks delicious. We prefer to eat chicken thigh though. Will give it a try.
Cool! Let us know how you go… Chicken thighs would definitely work too! I’m just too lazy to trim off all the fat that comes with thighs which is why I use the breast meat.
This was so, so tasty! The texture of the sauce was perfect with just the right amount of cardamom coming through. We are curry fiends in this house (even the 3yo) and this will definitely make a regular appearance on our menu. The instructions were easy as to follow too. Thanks for sharing!
So glad to hear that you and your family enjoyed it! I’ll research some more curry recipes so stay tuned…
Absolute hit! The whole family and the friends we shared it with polished it off in a heartbeat!
Awesome – glad to hear that you enjoyed it.
Love chicken saag and have only ever eaten it in a restaurant so would love to try cooking it in my thermomix. Thanks for the recipe, it looks delicious, however, was wondering if I could add cream or yoghurt as it normally has a very creamy texture.
Hi Sandra, I’ve never tried this recipe with cream or yoghurt. Generally, I’d worry about them splitting in the hot sauce. If you want to give it a go, I’d stir it through after you’ve finished cooking the curry. Maybe put a bit of the curry in a small bowl first and add the cream or yoghurt to see how it goes. Hope that helps. Karen.
Thanks! Will try it