Thursday Recipe - Saag Aloo

Saag Aloo!

Sounds like something Tigger would shout across the 100 acre woods. It's pronounced sog ah-LOO. What it is is delicious.

Saag Aloo is an Indian dish that is basically fried spiced potatoes with creamed greens. Saag is the creamed greens part. There are various versions of this around. Any Indian restaurant you go to will have a different blend of greens and spices in it. Saag Paneer is the creamed greens with breaded and fried goat cheese chunks. It's really tasty, but I finally figured out why I get sick every time I eat it. I'm allergic to goat milk.

Aloo is the Indian word for potatoes. I think I'm going to start calling them that all the time. Aloo. Aloo. A-loo-oo. It's too much fun to say.

I'm still in the process of figuring out how I like this the best. You can mix and match the greens using everything from spinach to mustard greens to other greens. I'm not sure lettuce would work but you could try it if you wanted. I'm going with chopped chard this time because that's what I've got handy. I think the local stores carry collard greens so I could try it with that. Feel free to use what you've got growing or what your local store carries. Beet greens would probably work in this as well.

Here's recipe #1, based loosely on this one:

Saag Aloo (Indian Fried Potatoes and Creamed Greens)

2 T. oil
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced (about 1/2 c.)
1/2 t. garlic powder
1 t. ginger OR 1 T. fresh ginger, grated
1/2 t. ground mustard
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. turmeric
1 t. salt
2 medium potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large chunks (about 3 c.)
1/4 c. water
2 c. spinach leaves, washed
2 c. mustard greens OR chard OR collard greens
salt

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook over medium-low heat until onion is soft and starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add the potato chunks, spices, and water, cook for another 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are almost done.

Stir in the greens. Add the water. Cover and cook on medium-low for 3-4 minutes, until the greens are soft. Remove the cover and cook until the liquid is gone.

Salt to taste and serve.