My husband loves saag and naan. I wanted to try another dal recipe – which he is not as excited about- so these accompaniments made him happy. This recipe is from Madhur Jaffrey’s Indian Cooking which was originally published to accompany the BBC television series Indian Cookery. I used one half of a jalapeño and the results were not that spicy. We ate it as a side dish with Chana Dal (Split Chickpeas), New Delhi-Style, which has a spicy kick to it. The dishes were nice together. The cookbook author also suggests eating this with a chicken dish called Malai Wali Murghi (Chicken with Cream)- I am going to try that next time!
- 2 lb spinach, washed and trimmed
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 4 T ghee or vegetable oil
- 1/2 – 1 fresh, hot green chili, finely chopped
- 1 tsp very finely grated, peeled fresh ginger
- about 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/4 tsp garam masala
- Cut the spinach crosswise into 1/2 inch wide strips. Chop the onion finely.
- Heat the ghee in a fairly large pot over over a medium-high flame. When hot, put in the onions. Stir fry for 3 minutes.
- Now put in the chopped spinach, green chili, ginger, salt and sugar. Stir and cook the spinach for 5 minutes.
- Add 1/2 cup water and bring to a simmer. Cover tightly, turn heat to low and cook for about 10 extra minutes.
- Uncover and boil away some of the extra liquid. Sprinkle garam masala over the top and mix.