In Indian restaurants in the UK, saag paneer is usually made with spinach (palek saag). In fact, the word ‘saag’ is a generic word for greens in Hindi. If you make this dish using spinach, there is no need to precook it - you can add it straight to the sauce. But some types of chard need at least 10 to 15 minutes pre-cooking for a dish such as this. I used large leafed ruby chard which took 15 minutes to become tender. For the sauce I used a tin of yellow tomatoes but it will work equally well with red tomatoes. Serve with rice or Indian flatbreads.
Ingredients (serves 1 as a main course or 2 to 3, if serving with other dishes)
½ large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp edible mustard oil (or use vegetable oil of choice)
¼ tsp each of yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds
2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp asafoetida (hing)
½ tsp chilli flakes (plus some to sprinkle)
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Salt to taste
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
100g chard, roughly chopped with thick stems removed.
100g paneer, cut into cubes
Yoghurt or kefir to garnish (optional)
Method
Ingredients (serves 1 as a main course or 2 to 3, if serving with other dishes)
½ large onion, finely sliced
2 tbsp edible mustard oil (or use vegetable oil of choice)
¼ tsp each of yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds, coriander seeds
2 large cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
¼ tsp turmeric
½ tsp asafoetida (hing)
½ tsp chilli flakes (plus some to sprinkle)
1 tbsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Salt to taste
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
100g chard, roughly chopped with thick stems removed.
100g paneer, cut into cubes
Yoghurt or kefir to garnish (optional)
Method
- Gently fry the onion in 1 tbsp of oil until lightly golden. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
- Add the mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds and coriander seeds to the onions and fry until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
- Add the garlic slices, turmeric, asafoetida and chilli flakes to the pan, mix and fry gently for a few minutes more.
- Add the tomatoes, vinegar and sugar and mix well. Add salt to taste. Allow the sauce to simmer, uncovered for at least 10 minutes until thickened and reduced and the seeds have softened.
- Whilst the sauce is cooking, boil the chard in salted water until it is cooked to your liking (approximately 15 minutes depending on the type of chard). To keep the chard as green as possible once cooked, you can plunge it into iced water.
- Add the drained cooked chard to the sauce and heat through.
- Fry the cubes of paneer in the remainder of the oil, until golden brown and add to the dish before serving.
- Garnish with yoghurt or kefir and more chilli flakes, if desired.
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