Saag is a spinach sauce from indian cuisine. You can make this with meat if you like, lamb is often popular, but I decided to make it just with paneer, because apparently that’s more traditional. It tastes great! One note though, the toasted cheese loses its crunchy bits after a few days in the fridge. Still tastes fine, it just doesn’t have the crunch.
Ingredients
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cayenne
salt
oil (3-4 tablespoons)
12 ounces (generally one package) paneer cheese, cubed
1 pound (also generally 1 package) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 white onion, chopped
2 inches ginger, minced
1 head garlic (maybe 8 or more cloves) minced
1-2 serrano chilis, thinly sliced
1-2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt, more if you like it creamier
Directions
mix together the oil, turmeric, cayenne, some salt, and the cheese together in a small bowl, stirring until the cheese is coated all over. Set it aside while you prep the rest of the ingredients. If you worked ahead and already prepped everything, let it sit for 15-20 minutes in the oil to marinate.
Next, heat a large pan on medium heat, and once it’s hot, add the cheese and oil mixture to the pan. Separate out the cubes of cheese so that they all have good contact with the pan. What you’re going to do now is just leave it for maybe 10 minutes, don’t touch anything, while the cheese fries on the bottom and gets crispy on one side. After maybe 5 minutes, you can pick up one of the cubes of cheese to see if it’s brown and crispy. If it isn’t, put it back and keep waiting. Like I said, should probably take about 10 minutes.
Alternatively, if you have a deep fryer, you can do this part in it. Just take your chunks of marinated cheese and drop them in for 5-10 minutes (check after 5 minutes to see how it’s coming along). It’s a much easier way to do it, but not everyone has a deep fryer.
Once you have the cheese where you want it, remove the cheese from the pan, and add the onions, ginger, garlic, and chilis. Saute, stirring, for 15-20 minutes until the onions are good and caramelized. The whole mixture should start to turn brown when it’s right. It may be necessary to add a splash of water periodically to keep it from burning.
Add the garam masala, coriander, and cumin, and some more water if you need it, and cook for another 3-5 minutes. The raw spice smell should cook out and it should just smell…smoother?
Add the spinach and mix thoroughly, then add salt and another splash of water. Cook for a few minutes.
Now, turn the heat as low as possible, and add a tablespoon or two of the yogurt and mix everything up. Keep adding a few tablespoons of the yogurt to the mix, and stirring, until you have gone through all the yogurt (Why do it like this? I have been told that if you add it all at once, it can curdle. I don’t know if that’s true or not). Add the cheese, and turn the heat back on. Keep stirring everything until it’s hot all the way through.
eatbensmeat 