Chicken saagwala

Every Indian restaurant has a version of this popular curry. Don’t be alarmed at what seems like a mountain of spinach in the beginning — it all wilts down to create a rich, tasty curry. One serving of this will probably give you more greens than most people would have in a whole week.

Chicken saagwala

¼ cup	Vegetable oil
2	Onions, sliced
1 Tbsp	Ground cumin
1 tsp	Ground chilli, or 2 tsp depending on how hot you like it
¼ tsp	Ground cloves
½ tsp	Ground turmeric
5 cm	Ginger, piece, grated
3	Garlic cloves, crushed
300 g	Spinach leaves, fresh, choppped (Main)
1	Green chilli, large, chopped
400 g	Crushed tomatoes, canned
800 g	Boneless chicken thighs, skinless, cut into large chunks (Main)
2 Tbsp	Cream, optional
1	Lemon, to juice
1 to serve	Naan bread

Raita

3	Tomatoes, chopped
½	Telegraph cucumbers, seeds removed, chopped
½	Red onions, finely chopped
1 handful	Fresh mint, chopped
1 cup	Natural yoghurt, unsweetened

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large frying pan, gently fry the onions until golden, about 5 minutes.
2. Add spices, garlic and ginger and fry a further 2 minutes.
3. Wilt fresh spinach by blanching in boiling water or steaming in microwave. Squeeze out excess water and puree spinach with tomatoes, cooked onions and spices.
4. Heat a little more oil in the same pan and fry chicken pieces until lightly browned.
5. Add spinach puree to chicken and simmer on medium heat until chicken is cooked through, about 15-20 minutes. Season with lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.
6. Drizzle cream over curry just before serving. Serve curry as part of a shared meal with naan bread and raita.
7. For the raita, mix all ingredients together and season to taste.