Chicken Saag

Adapted from Best Ever Curry Cookbook by Mridula Baljekar

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, thighs or breasts
• Ghee
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 10 oz spinach, fresh or frozen and thawed
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated (or 1 tsp dry ground)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, stemmed, seeded and chopped (or use 1/4 tsp cayenne)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 onion, chopped
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 3 Tbsp plain yogurt or sour cream, plus more for serving
• Paprika or cayenne, to garnish

Cook chicken breasts in ghee using sear-and-steam method. Or, if using chicken thighs, roast on a baking sheet, greased with ghee, for 24 minutes at 425, flipping halfway through. Slice chicken when cool enough to handle and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat 2 Tbsp ghee. Add bay leaves and 1 tsp pepper, cook and stir until fragrant. Add onion, sprinkle with salt, and cook, stirring frequently until golden. Add garlic, ginger and jalapeño, and a pinch more salt. Cook for another couple of minutes, then stir in spinach until just warmed/wilted. Remove bay leaves. Scoop out into blender (or use immersion blender in the pan) and process until smooth, adding liquid from cooking chicken, plus water as needed to get it blending.

Back in the pan, heat tomatoes with curry powder (and other powdered spices if using). When simmering, stir spinach mixture back into pan and heat through. Stir in cooked chicken (sliced) and off heat, yogurt or sour cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve over rice, topped with more yogurt or sour cream and sprinkled with paprika (or cayenne!)

[Note: the photo above shows my test batch of cauliflower rice. I gave it a try! It’s fairly easy (but messy) to make in the food processor. I could see how it might be worth the extra effort to get something texturally similar to rice if you were truly avoiding it, but I feel like I would prefer to just eat cauliflower in it’s usual size/shape.]