Saag Paneer with a coconut twist

Are saag paneer and palak paneer the same thing? The simple answer is no. Palak paneer is spinach. Saag paneer is greens. Greens can mean a lot of things. Mustard greens are often used, and you may also find fenugreek leaves and several other types that you won't find in your standard American grocery store.  If you have an Indian market nearby, good for you. I don't.

I generally make my saag with a combination of mustard greens and spinach. Sometimes I add dandelion leaves as well, for their bitter, peppery flavor. I do like fenugreek, but that's not something I can easily find, so I add some dried fenugreek at the end of cooking.

I love Indian food, but frustratingly, I'm not able to eat spicy food the way I used to. Let's just call it chemo mouth that never went away. So, while I include a green chili in the recipe, I use very little or none at all. You can add some red chili powder if you want more heat. So, make your saag to your liking and I won't shame you. If you can't take the heat, you can still stay in my kitchen.

This is one of those dishes that has as many versions as there are people who make it, and everyone says that their way is the right way. That leads me to believe that the right way is the way your family makes it if you're Indian, or any way you like it if you’re not. Some use cream, some don’t. I'm going with coconut milk because I love it and because it keeps the dish pareve/vegan for those people who care about that. By the way, if you need to go pareve/or vegan here, feel free to substitute firm tofu for the paneer. I promise you it will still be delicious. And while we’re on a coconut jag, I’m going to toast some shredded coconut and use it as a garnish.

I like using a combination of whole spices and ground spices. They both have their own virtues to bring to the table. If you can't find dried fenugreek leaves or asafetida you can leave them out, but they really add authenticity to the flavor. Both are available in Indian groceries and online.

You'll find that a lot of recipes for saag contain lemon juice. That's fine, but I prefer the flavor that lime juice brings to the dish.

I've had this dish made with the sauce completely puréed, like soup. Or baby food. I've also had it without any puréeing, which makes the greens seem more like a vegetable dish than a sauce. In my opinion, the best texture is achieved by first finely chopping all the greens and then puréeing half. It's smooth and creamy but still retains some bite. That said, it's all good!

After fiddling with the recipe through multiple testings, this is the version that I've landed on.

And by the way, this silky sauce of greens can be also be used with chicken, lamb, fish, or vegetables instead of the paneer.

I love this sauce and would probably eat it if you poured it over rocks. Or an old shoe. But I'm going to go with paneer.

You can make your own paneer. It's fun. But you can use store bought if it's available. It's certainly faster and easier.

Personally, I like my paneer to be soft. Some people soak their paneer before adding it to the greens, in order to keep it soft and delicate.

But, many people pan fry their paneer before adding it to the sauce. When pan fried until golden, paneer looks beautiful, and this adds to the flavor as well. But it also makes the paneer a little tough and chewy, which I don't like.

There's an easy way to solve this dilemma.

Fry up your paneer cubes and then set them to soak for 20—30 minutes.

Presto!

Beautiful, golden, tender, soft paneer.

Another word on paneer: Most people cut the paneer into cubes (although some people crumble it into the dish). But, just for fun, try cutting the block of paneer on the diagonal—first in one direction, then in the opposite direction—to make diamonds. Pretty!  

If you're wondering how big to cut your paneer pieces, the answer is, it's totally up to you. I've had it served with little pieces and with big chunks. My personal choice is to make them bite sized. Big enough to really get the paneer experience, but small enough to eat in a single bite. You do you.

And now, without further ado, I offer you Saag Paneer a la The Twisted Challah.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces paneer, homemade or store bought, cut into diamonds or cubes.

• neutral oil, (avocado, sunflower, etc.) as needed to fry the paneer

• 1 pound of greens (I usually use a bit more)—use mustard leaves, plus mature spinach (more flavor than baby spinach), dandelion, chard, baby kale, and/or whatever you can find, or like. I like to combine several kinds.

• 3 tablespoons ghee or butter (use oil for a dairy-free dish)

• 2 large onions, finely chopped

• 5 large cloves garlic, peeled

• 1 green chili, seeded and chopped, more or less to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon red chili powder, more or less to taste

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 2 teaspoons whole cumin seed

• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seed

• 5 whole green cardamom pods

• 1 1/2 inch piece ginger, peeled and minced, more or less to taste

• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a 13 ounce can). The Thai brands are readily available and are very good

• 1 1/2 teaspoons coconut oil

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

• juice of 1/2 lime

• 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves (methi)

• 1/4–1/2 teaspoon asafetida, to taste

• optional: shredded, unsweetened coconut, toasted

Method:

• Pour enough oil into a skillet to fry the paneer and heat it to about 350°. You can test the oil to see if it's ready by putting the tip of a wooden chopstick into the oil. If bubbles form all around it, it's ready. If it's smoking, it's too hot.

• Add the paneer cubes to the pan and fry them until beautifully golden on all sides. Then remove them from the pan.

• Put the fried paneer into a bowl and pour boiling water over, enough to cover. Allow the fried paneer to soak for 20—30 minutes, then drain it and set it aside. Your flavorful, golden, tender paneer is ready to be added to the saag.

• Warm the ghee or butter in a large pot or a Dutch oven. Add the ground cumin, cardamon, and coriander and cook, stirring, for one minute to allow the spices to release their flavors.

• Add the onion and sauté until the onion becomes soft and translucent, then add 4 cloves of the garlic and the ginger and sauté for another minute or two. Stir in the green chili pepper.

• Start adding the greens. If you're using several types, add the ones that need the most cooking first, adding the spinach last, if using. You'll probably have to add them slowly to make them fit into the pot, adding more bit by bit as they start to cook down. When the greens are all wilted and tender, stir in the salt and turn off the heat.

• Allow the sag to cool for a few minutes, then scrape half the contents of the pot into the work bowl of a food processor. Process, using the S blade, until you achieve a smooth purée. Then add the purée back into the pot and stir it in with the coconut milk, the cardamom pods, and the fried and soaked paneer.

• Bring the pot to a simmer and let the saag paneer cook, stirring occasionally, until you have a thick sauce, about 7—10 minutes.

• While the greens are cooking, prepare the whole spices. Warm the coconut oil in a pan and add the cumin and coriander seeds and the remaining clove of garlic. Fry them for about a minute, until they start to dance in the pan. Don't let them overcook or they'll become bitter.

• When the saag is done, stir in the whole spices with the oil they were fried in, plus the asafetida and the fenugreek leaves. Add some red chili powder for more heat, if you like. Squeeze in the lime. Taste for salt. Your coconut saag paneer is ready to serve. Garnish the dish with the shredded coconut, if you’d like.

• Saag paneer is usually served with steamed basmati rice and/or naan or another Indian bread.

• It's not quite traditional, but serving the coconut saag with coconut rice is a delicious way to use up the rest of that can of coconut milk.

• To make the coconut rice, pour the rest of the coconut milk from the can into a measuring cup and add water to make 2 cups. Pour the mixture into a small saucepan and add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2—1 teaspoon sugar (the salt and sugar will really bring out the coconut flavor). Bring the pot to a boil and stir in 1 cup basmati rice (rinse it first to remove excess starch), cover the pot, and lower the heat to keep the rice at a very gentle simmer. Don't remove the cover while the rice is cooking. Cook the rice for 15—18 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. Then remove the cover, fluff with a fork, and replace the cover to keep your rice hot until it's time to serve.