Potato Tofu Saag (and Roti)

When Japan gives you spinach, make saag! This version is vegan too, and comes from looking at a couple recipes online and coming up with my own processes and ingredients. Amazing what a little creativity can do. However, if you do prefer the dairy in your saag, substitute the coconut milk with whole whipping cream or unflavored yogurt, and the tofu for paneer (the cheese). If you don't have spinach, feel free to use whatever sort of dark leafy green you have available. Also, if you want to make this less spicy, omit the ingredients I've labeled as optional. Feel free to play around with spices and quantities to find something you like. This recipe and eating this yummyness helped me get over a stupid cold I had for a bit. Nothing like warm fresh food to soothe the soul. I served this dish with roti. See the link at the end of this recipe for how to make the roti. Happy eats :)



Makes about 6 to 8 servings

Ingredients:

Olive oil, about 5 tablespoons
Garlic, 4 to 5 cloves, chopped up into small pieces
Ginger, chopped up into small pieces, about 1 tablespoon's worth
Onion, 1/2 of a medium onion, chopped up into small pieces
Cumin seeds, about 1 & 1/2 teaspoon
Anise seeds, about 1/2 teaspoon
Curry powder, 1 & 1/2 teaspoon
Garam masala, 2 to 3 teaspoons
Dried herbs: oregano, basil, cilantro, a few dashes of each
Black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
Cinnamon powder, 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon (optional)
Chile powder, 1 teaspoon (optional)
Small dried chile, seeds removed (optional)
Tomato, 1 medium, diced up
Whole leaf spinach, 2 big ass bunches. Pick off the leaves from the stems, and wash them well to remove any dirt.
Coconut milk, 1/4 cup
8 very small potatoes (or equivalent amount, like 4 medium, or 2 large), cut up into small chunks
Firm tofu, 1 block, cut up into thick cubes (to resemble the paneer in saag paneer)
Salt, 1/2 teaspoon

In an extra large pot, place the garlic, ginger, onion, cumin seeds, and the anise seeds. Pour olive oil liberally all over everything. Turn the heat to medium and let everything begin to fry. Stir frequently.

After allowing the onions to fry and get soft, add the curry powder, garam masala, dried herbs, black pepper, cinnamon powder, nutmeg, chile powder, and the small dried chile. Stir frequently with a wooden spoon while the spices and onions begin to fry. Be careful not to burn anything.

Once the pot smells nice and the spices give off a good scent, add the potatoes and continue to fry for about 2 minutes. Then add the tomatoes and cook for another 3 minutes or so, until the mixture becomes hot and begins to bubble. Turn off heat.

In another pot, place all the spinach leaves. Add about 1/4 cup of water. Turn up the heat to medium, and allow the water to get a bit hot.

Once the spinach leaves begin to wilt slightly, immediately turn off the heat. Don't throw away the water. Place the spinach leaves in a large collander, and submerge in ice water (this preserves the color apparently).

Pour the warm spinach water (which should be clean) into the pot with the potatoes, and turn the heat to medium. Cover the pot.

Meanwhile, put all the spinach leaves into a blender. Put about 1/4 cup water, and blend. Blend the spinach until there are no longer any chunks and the mixture is smooth. About 1 minute of blending should do. Set aside.

Boil the potatoes on medium heat in the large pot for a short while, about 5 minutes. Then stir in the spinach from the blender. Add the coconut milk, and stir well. Add the tofu, and stir well.

Add the salt, stir, lower the heat, and allow everything to simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Serve with roti (or whatever you'd like) and enjoy!

I added some cumin seeds to the roti recipe I used below, for a nice toasty cumin flavor. I simply mixed in the seeds with the flour before adding anything else. Obviously, omit the butter at the end or use a substitute to make them vegan. Here's the video/recipe link I used to make the roti:

http://showmethecurry.com/breads/rotli-roti-indian-bread-recipe.html

P.S. This vegan version of saag should taste better the next day when all the spices have been given a chance to mesh together. And you don't have to worry about any of the dairy spoiling.