More Greens Make Indian Carryout—At Home

An Enright CSA email last week suggested using some of the greens in our share to make saag paneer, an Indian dish usually prepared with spinach. This sounded like a really great idea, but alas, there is no paneer cheese to be found within a bike’s ride of Price Hill. Nonetheless, I was intrigued with the idea of homemade Indian carryout, so I started thinking about other delicious dishes found on Indian restaurant menus, and that brought me to saag choley.

Saag choley is also spinach-based, and I quickly found a recipe for it online that called for a package of frozen spinach, which I planned to replace with fresh greens. I gathered the other ingredients, most of which I had on hand. That was kind of odd, especially the fact that I had coconut milk in the house, but I had used half a can the day before to make a totally awesome satay sauce for some CSA share-based stir fry, so trying saag choley would also allow me to use up the leftover coconut milk. But don't worry, you can use more yogurt if you don't happen to have any coconut milk in the fridge.

The result was absolutely delicious, and along with the homemade garlic naan I baked to accompany the dinner, it made my kitchen smell just like an Indian restaurant, which was pretty great, too. Though there are a few steps, it’s not hard, and one nice thing is that you can leave it to simmer for as long as you’d like, so you can take a break and enjoy appetizers on the deck on these long days of summer after the basic preparations (which don't take too long) are complete.

Saag Choley

3 bunches of greens (I used kale, mustard greens, and some goosefoot from my front yard)

2 Tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon coriander

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or two dried chili peppers from last year’s crop, seeded and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup sweet peas (canned or frozen; if you use frozen, thaw them first)

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup plain yogurt

½ cup chicken stock (more if you want to cook the greens in stock rather than water)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked rice for serving

Start by cooking the greens. Wash, stem, and chop the greens and add them to a large pan with about an inch of boiling water (or chicken stock) in it. Cook covered over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, until bright green, and then turn off heat and leave covered to continue cooking a bit longer while you chop the onion and garlic.

Drain the greens in a colander and let them cool a little while you add the oil, spices, garlic, and onion to the pan. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, puree the drained greens in a food processor and add them to the pan. Put the peas and garbanzo beans in the food processor, pulse a few times to mash them up a bit, and add them to the pan.

Stir in the coconut milk and yogurt (you can change the ratio or use all yogurt or all coconut milk if you prefer) and then add chicken stock until the mixture is soupy but not too thin (you may not need all of the stock, depending on the amount of greens you started with). Cook uncovered over medium-low heat for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve over rice. Makes 4 large servings.