1 tablespoon olive oil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3 cups fresh spinach, minced
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons ginger puree
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, minced
1 large tomato, crushed
1 whole black cardamom pod
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
1/2 teaspoon coriander seed
salt

1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Add oil and fry chicken until lightly browned. Remove and set aside.
2. Place spinach and water into a separate saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in the chicken saucepan and add the ginger, garlic and onions, sautéing until lightly brown, then stir in the tomato, cardamom, cloves, coriander seed, cayenne and turmeric.
4. Reduce heat to a simmer, then add the coconut milk and the chicken back to the pot. Cover and simmer until the chicken is tender, about an hour, adding a bit of water if necessary.
5. In a separate skillet over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil and lightly fry the cumin and coriander seed. Drain the spinach and toss in this mixture, then stir into the chicken. Season to taste with salt and serve with Chappati.

Makes 4 servings

In my quest to determine the differences between all the different curry names so I can tell what I might actually want to order in an Indian restaurant, I think saag is one of the easiest to pin down. A lot of the other dishes I've been trying to determine rely on the "Indian spices" that have been added to the dish to determine the name, flavor and heat level. Saag, as far as I can tell, is just a direct translation to "spinach" in English, which means any dose of saag will get you a whole lot of goodness. Saag paneer is the most common type of saag, I have learned, which is likely what I was trying to duplicate by making the Curried Yogurt Spinach. It's easy to get yogurt and a cheese you've never even see before mixed up.

I made Chicken Saag, which would then be "curried spinach chicken". Normally you'd think this would be a dish I'd fall in love with, and you're right. The problem is that my preparation was not the greatest as I used frozen spinach - way, way too much frozen spinach - to compensate for the relative scarcity of fresh spinach right now. The moisture from the spinach totally drowned out any of the spices and the flavor of the spinach totally drowned out everything else. It was edible, but hardly delicious. I'm going to have to get my hands on some paneer and try making saag again.