Easy Indian Saag Recipe (Quick Spinach Curry) (2024)

Saag is a classic Indian dish made using different leafy green vegetables and aromatic spices. If you love saag curry from Indian restaurants, you should try making it using my Indian saag recipe.

In this post, I will show you how to cook basic Indian saag with detailed steps. Using this as a base curry, you can make saag dishes like Saag Paneer, Saag Tofu, Saag Chana, and Saag Aloo.

What is Saag

Saag is a popular Indian food outside of India. But this is an essential and simple everyday Indian curry with seasonal leafy vegetables and basic Indian spices. Every household makes this curry differently depending on the greens available in the Indian markets.

In the Northern region of India, they make this curry with mustard greens, called "Sarson ka saag".

This is my version of saag that I learned from my Mom.
Saag is typically prepared with a combination of spinach, mustard, radish, and fenugreek leafy veggies. But you could use any leafy greens to make the saag. The typical restaurant-style saag will have spinach and cream.

Ingredients for Saag

• Leafy Greens: I have used only fresh spinach in this recipe as it is readily available and tastes delicious. But you could use any of these leafy greens - mustard leaves, radish leaves, kale, fenugreek leaves, swiss chard, collard greens, beet greens. And the final taste of saag will depend on the greens used. If you use more mustard greens, radish, and kale, saag will be pungent. You can also use fresh baby spinach leaves.
• Spices: Like many Indian curries, this recipe uses dry spices like ground coriander, garam masala, ground cumin, and turmeric powder. Usually, we use green chilli for spiciness and avoid red chili powder to keep the curry's vibrant green color.
• Aromatics: Onion, garlic, and ginger add so much flavor to this curry. You can avoid garlic or ginger if you do not have them handy.

How to make Saag

Cleaning and chopping

• Clean the leafy greens a couple of times. Drain the water completely from the cleaned leaves. You can dry them on a kitchen towel or a paper towel to remove the excess water.
• Now chop the greens. I also use the tender stalks.

Saute the aromatics

• Start by heating a skillet or a large frying pan over medium heat. Add oil, finely minced onions, ginger, garlic, and thinly sliced green chili (use jalapeno for a milder spice).

• Over medium heat, sauté the onion mixture till they turn golden brown. I usually saute the onions on a medium flame for about 5 minutes.

• Add turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, and salt to this onion mixture.

• Stir everything together. If your pan seems too hot, add a tablespoon of water to prevent burning.

Add the greens

• I used spinach leaves along with their tender stalks. So I added finely chopped stalks first and cooked them for around 2 to 3 minutes.

• Now goes the finely chopped spinach or other leafy greens if you use them.

Simmer the curry

• Cook this green leafy mixture on high flame for 5 to 6 minutes.
• By this time, spinach greens will be wilted and cooked entirely, and you will not see any water in them.

Adjust the consistency

• Your homemade Indian-style spinach saag is now complete, and you can serve it as is with its delightful texture.
• If you like the restaurant-style saag with a smoother consistency, blend the spinach mixture. I usually use a handheld immersion blender, but a standalone blender or a food processor also works for this.
• Once blended, you'll have a creamy Indian saag, ready to be enjoyed on its own. Alternatively, this delicious dish can be a flavorful base for different dishes.

Tips and Substitutions

• You can use a potato masher to mash the saag for the desired consistency. If you chop the spinach very finely, you need not use a blender to make this saag sauce.
• Usually, restaurants use heavy cream to make this curry rich. You can also add cashew cream, coconut milk, or whole milk at the end and cook it for around 3 to 4 minutes on low heat.
• This base curry is vegan and gluten-free. And you can serve it as a side dish or main curry.
• Just before serving, add a teaspoon or two of lemon juice for added taste.

How to serve this Spinach Saag

Usually, this Indian saag is served with Indian flatbread like Roti, Naan bread, and cornbread (called makki ki roti).
Apart from these traditional ways, I also serve this curry differently.

• As a sandwich filling
• As tortilla filling
• As a side dish with cooked quinoa, millet, plain basmati rice, or jeera rice.

Different Saag Variations

This Indian Saag is a base curry, and we can use this to make many delicious variations.

• Saag Chana (Spinach with Chickpeas): Chickpeas and this saag goes very well. Check the detailed saag chana recipe to make this version of the saag curry.
• Saag Paneer (Spinach with Indian cheese): While this spinach sauce is getting cooked, heat another pan and roast the paneer cubes using a teaspoon of oil. Add the saag base to the fried paneer, a couple of tablespoons of water, and simmer it for 5 minutes. Add fresh or cashew cream for the restaurant-style rich curry and simmer it for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Saag Tofu (Spinach and tofu): If you are vegan, you can make this saag tofu and enjoy the delicious meal at home.
• Saag Aloo (Spinach and potato): Add cooked potato cubes and a little water to this Indian saag base curry and simmer it for 5 minutes. The potato will absorb the flavors, and Saag aloo is ready to serve with Naan bread or rice.

While making these variations, you can add more garam masala powder and green chili to make it spicier. While the curry is simmering, add water to adjust the consistency of the curry.

Storage

This basic Indian spiced spinach curry lasts about 12 hours at room temperature. You can store it in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days and freeze it for three months.

I prefer freezing this curry base in ¼ cup portions and taking the required quantity. Besides just reheating and serving this curry, you can make the above saag variations and serve it with rice, quinoa, millet, and naan bread.

FAQ

As you are here, you will like other Indian curries

Indian chickpea masala

Indian black-eyed peas curry

Lentil and spinach curry

Spinach and potato curry

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