One of my favourite dishes from an Indian takeaway, among the mighty lamb balti, brilliant onion bhaji and cracking keema naan, is the humble sag aloo. Spinach and potato. What springs to mind are buttery, savoury bright yellow nuggets of firm potato streaked with iron-y spinach. Yum.
But I’ve never managed to recreate it successfully at home. In a moment of weakness the other day I picked up a packet of Schwartz Bombay Potato mix somehow assuming it would be any good. It smells the part and trying it neat it’s interesting (and bl**dy spicy!) but not really what I’m after. The recipe I used is on the Schwartz link and yet after 30 mins additional cooking the potatoes were only just done.
After whining on Twitter Shauna put me on to this recipe which sounds like the business. I’ll be trying it soon.
BUT – I have an idea for the leftovers. Watch this space…
After the success of a recent curry, I had leftover onion base and balti paste. To ring the changes I had a lamb and spinach version, and it was delicious. I really recommend the Waitrose onion curry base, it’s a brilliant time-saver and packed with taste.
This meal represent a confluence of good fortune: I receive a job-lot of Total Greek Yoghurt one minute and a copy of Leon Naturally Fast Food the next. I’ve never been so instantly bowled over by a cookbook, it’s extremely wedded to the way I cook and makes perfect sense. It’s beautifully presented in a scrapbook style, and packed with a very real voice. It’s utterly charming.
I was drawn to the pot-roasts, and had a curryish state of mind going in. So this seemed like the one to use as a starting point. I’ve added a few bits and pieces.
It was very satisfying, but personally I underseasoned it. It will be utterly delicious the next time.
Indian chicken pot roast (serves 4):
4 chicken quarters
300ml 0% Total Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 potatoes, sliced into thick discs
1 lemon, sliced into thick discs
1 onion, sliced into rings
1 large bag of spinach
Brine the chicken in enough water to cover with 8% salt for 6 hours. Afterwards, rinse under a cold tap and pat dry.
Mix the yoghurt and spices together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Marinate the chicken in this lovely pink mix overnight.
Preheat the oven to 170°C. Layer the potatoes in the bottom of a large lidded casserole dish. Lay the onions on this, then the lemon slices. Season well, then plop the chicken on top of this with any leftover marinade.
Bake for 1½ to 2 hours, until the chicken is done. Get the chicken out carefully with tongs, tip the spinach in and pop the chicken back on top. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and is tender.
I took a good look at Judy Joo’s recipe, and dived into the challenge. Being a forthright so-and-so, I made a few adjustments. I understand they are at the heart of the dish but I had no chance of finding dangmyeon, or sweet potato vermicelli, in my corner of Essex. It’s hard enough finding an Asian store of any description, so I hope the panel will forgive me substituting fine egg noodles (if I ever see some on my travels, I will grab them and give ’em a try). On a more personal level, I love it when beef has that black-brown seared crust on, and worried that this recipe might lose it. So I chose to sear the beef very quickly over very high heat, then leave it to rest alongside the omelette before adding back at the end. By resting it here, those lovely steak juices would wander off and get leeched by the egg, so double win there.
All told, it was a lovely plate of noodles. Dark and rich, with plenty of fresh vegetable crunch. The omelette and beef were nice little nuggets of treasure hidden away amongst it all. Thanks guys! So what’s next?
Jap chae (serves 2):
200g rump steak, thinly sliced
For the marinade:
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds
For the noodles:
2 nests fine egg noodles, broken up
2 tbsp soy sauce
Everything else:
2 eggs, beaten
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small red onion, sliced
1 small carrot, julienned
12 oyster mushrooms, sliced
½ red pepper, julienned
Handful baby spinach leaves
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds, crushed
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Mix the marinade ingredients together, pour over the steak and leave for at least half an hour.
Boil the noodles as per packet instructions, drain and rinse through with plenty of cold water. When cool to the touch pour over the soy and let it soak in.
Get a pan on medium low and spread the egg thinly over the base of the pan. When it sets flip it over, cook briefly, roll it up and put to one side.
Get the pan up to ferocious heat and add a splash of oil. Sear the beef quickly for about 45 seconds on either side and remove to the same plate as the omelette to rest while you get on with everything else. (I couldn’t bear to lose that leftover marinade so poured it over the resting noodles).
Keep the heat high and add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 minutes. Keep it moving the whole time and it shouldn’t catch. Add the red onion, carrot, mushrooms and pepper and continue stir-frying at pace. Fry for 3 – 4 minutes more until they vegetables start to go tender, then add the spinach and beef. Slice the omelette into strips and add those too along with the noodles and the rest of the ingredients.
Cook for another minute or two until everything has been warmed through and the noodles take on a glossy appearance.
