Something Like Saag: Attempting Indian

The Story

This picture doesn't look very appetizing- just very green. 

This isn't really a story. I like Indian food. I am decent at making curries, so why not try saag, since I always order it at Indian restaurants? 

My mom was confused. She kept asking me what it was, and what was in it, and telling me she had "something like this before." I kept telling her it was Indian food, and she kept asking. Ah, Nibblet. 

The Food

STEP ONE: Prepare the rice. Prepare brown rice according to directions (boil 2 cups of water with salt, pepper, and a teaspoon of olive oil or butter; add 1 cup of brown rice; reduce heat to low; simmer rice for 45 minutes or until done). 5 minutes before the rice is finished, add about 3/4 of a cup of frozen peas and mix in. 

Finished rice and peas.

STEP TWO: Steam spinach. Place 1 pound (16 ounces or 2 packages) of washed spinach in a large pot with a lid. Add half a cup of water, cover the pot, and turn the heat to medium high. 

This is a lot of spinach...

Steam for 3-6 minutes, or until the spinach is steamed (wilted). Remove the spinach from the pot and place it in a food processor or blender. 

And a lot of spinach cooks down to very little. 

STEP THREE: Mince and saute onion, garlic and ginger. Dice half of a medium sized sweet onion, and mince 6 large cloves of garlic (for about 2 tablespoons minced) and about an inch of fresh ginger (for about 2 tablespoons minced). 

Onion, garlic, ginger.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in the same large pot you used to steam the spinach, and saute the onion, garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring frequently. 

Steamy.

STEP FOUR: Puree spinach. Add 2 tablespoon cream or whole milk and 1/4 of a cup of ricotta or sour cream to the spinach in the food processor (or you could just use 6 tablespoons total of cream or whole milk).

Spinach and ricotta.

Pulse to begin mixing, then turn on high until the spinach is pureed. You may need to scrape down the sides to make sure everything is pureed, and mix on high again.

Pureed spinach.

STEP FIVE: Saute chicken, add in tomatoes and spinach. Cut up two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound- or to make it vegetarian, you could use tofu or paneer, or you could add shrimp or lamb instead of the chicken) and add it to the sauteed onion, garlic and ginger. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in one can (14.5 ounces) of diced tomatoes, including the "juices," and the pureed spinach. Stir to combine. 

This looks weird, and kind of leprechaun-y. 

STEP SIX: Season and simmer. Add another 1/4 cup whole milk or cream, 1.5 teaspoons each  of salt, curry powder and turmeric; 1 teaspoon of ground coriander; and .5  teaspoon each of pepper, nutmeg, cloves and cayenne (or more to taste). Turn the heat down to low, and simmer for 10-20 minutes.

STEP SEVEN: Eat. Serve the chicken saag with the brown rice with peas. Enjoy (hopefully). 

Extreme close-up. Very green.