Restaurant Saag

[scott123]

I have probably 40 saag recipes and not one seems anywhere near the saag I get at my local Indian Buffet. My taste buds are only getting me so far in my quest to ascertain the ingredients. Here's a breakdown of what I know so far:

Definite ingredients

Ghee or Butter

Spinach - probably canned (or cooked forever)

Salt

Ginger

Garlic

Highly probable ingredients

Mustard Greens - since my Indian grocer carries them I'm guessing the restaurant adds them. They might be omitted due to cost, though.

Cream

Maybe

Some form of sweetener - sugar, jaggery, honey

Green chilis or dried peppers?

Onions - they aren't visible but they might be pureed

Cumin - roasted

Coriander - no matter how much I cook with coriander, I still can't quite detect it in foods

Urad dal - little white cereal-like specs (cream of wheat comes to mind)

Tomato - not visible but in many recipes

Garam Masala

Wild guesses

Green peppers - some restaurants defile their saag with undercooked chunks of green pepper but not my place. If it is in it, it's well pureed/well cooked.

Cooked coriander/cilantro - I normally only add cilantro raw as a garnish. Is it possible these restaurants are cooking it? All of the dishes in the buffet have a common flavor that I can't seem to nail down. I've been thinking lately that it's cooked cilantro.

Dried fenugreek leaves - fenugreek leaves are great in my butter chicken but for some reason they seem out of place in my saag. Is kasoori methi that ubiquitious of a buffet ingredient?

Besan - the second possibility for the 'common flavor' - as a thickener perhaps? I know it's in the butter chicken gravy and I'm pretty sure it's in both the kofta meatballs and the gravy.

Mustard oil - if mustard oil were used, it would have to be tempered, correct? And if it's tempered, it's usually poured over the top of the saag, right? I've never had tempered oil on top of my saag in restaurant. Could be 'in' it, though.

MSG - Umami is coming from somewhere other than the salt. The 'common flavor' I describe seems to have a strong umami note to it, almost like white wine in French cooking.

My best description of this mysterious 'common ingredient' is 'salt-like' but not salt and not MSG.

Definitely not

Asafoetida

Coconut milk

For those familiar with it, this restaurant is typical of the New Jersey Indian buffet. The saag I had in London was a completely different animal.

Any ideas on what might be in or not in restaurant saag are more than welcome. I've been floundering for 10+ years trying to recreate this stuff and I'd like to find some direction.

Edited October 24, 2004 by scott123 (log)

[Episure]

Scott,

Your interest in Indian cuisine and trying to get it 'right' is very impressive.

I think the Saag taste that you are looking for should have:

to be pureed:

Spinach - blanched with a pich of soda bicarb

Green chilli

Salt

Ginger

Garlic

slightly sauted (with Ghee) Onions with a little cumin and coriander powder

to be added later:

A tad of garam masala

A dollop of cream

The Umami comes from the spinach itself and a later 'perceived' Umami from the cream.

I am very happy with this version but your 'made in USA' benchmark may be different.

Bhasin who has a couple of restaurants would probably refine this further... Paaji ?

[BBhasin]

The saag at the two places is very different. I like both for different reasons.

Place one

this is a neighborhood spot so we had decided to keep things simple as we belived patrons we looking for mainly nourishment.

heat oil

add chopped ginger and green chillies, saute but do not brown.

add chopped onions saute till tranclucent

add salt and some cayenne

add thawed frozen chopped spinach.

cook till done, do not overcook as the color will turn blackish

when an order of saag paneer comes in

take some of the above spinach (which is not pureed)

add some restaurant style basic onion gravy

add some cubes of paneer

add some diced tomato

add a tad of heavy cream

add a pinch of dried methi leaves

heat through

I like this version for its lightness, fresh appearance and and simple taste of spinach and ginger with the fenugreek in the background.

Pace two

this is located in a pretty busy restaurant area, is a little pricey and we believe people are looking for a richer ( non homey) experience.

This I think is the version Scott is looking for

the chef puts the frozen chopped spinach to cook in a large pot.

in another he prepares the tarka

heat oil ( and he takes plenty of it)

add sliced onions and when they begin to caramalize and turn light brown

add ginger and garlic paste

add salt, little turmuric, little cumin, garam masalla, and a hefty amount of corriander powder saute a few minutes

add diced tomatoes and tomato puree. cook till it leaves the oil

add this 'tarka' to the cooked spinach.

Puree the whole thing and add

dried methi leaves

butter

and yes, sour cream

cook some more and you are done.

this version is very tasty, though a little rich and heavy. but if you just want some saag with tandoori roti, this is it.

I will again ask the chef about this version and if there is anything I forgot I will modify the post.

I personally like to add a handful of chopped fresh dhania to my spinach but there is none in the above two versions.

[scott123]

Suresh, up until now, I've been taking some fairly complicated approaches to saag. The simplicity of your ingredients might just be what I'm looking for. Even if it isn't a perfect replica of what I'm used to, I'm sure it will be a welcome addition to my repetoire. Thank you.

Bhasin, the second version looks like it could be it. The first one reminds me of another restaurant I frequent, so I'm ecstatic to have that breakdown as well. I am exceedingly grateful to you for taking the time to type those out.

Your "restaurant style basic onion gravy" intrigues me. Would you expound on that a bit?

And the fresh dhania, would that be added to the spinach and cooked or added at the end as a garnish?

Btw, I took a moment and looked at the menu for the Delhi Club. Everything looks wonderful. The Delhi Pista Korma looks especially spectacular.

[scott123]

P.S. I just finished making/eating the best saag of my entire life!

Wow is it good!

Suresh, I basically followed your ingredients along with adding some dried methi leaves and some extra coriander powder (per Bhasin's instructions). All I can say is WOW!

I had been thinking about adding fresh chilis for quite some time now. Having both of you mention them was just enough to push me over the edge. They make a huge difference.

Since I've only wisened up to the wonders of sauteed spices in the last year or so, I'm pretty sure the last time I made saag it was with unsauteed cumin. I'm sure the sauteeing of the spices made a massive difference as well.

Next time, I'm adding tomatoes/paste with a fresh dhania garnish

Fry up a few cubes of paneer and saag paneer, here I come!

Thank you thank you thank you!

[Episure]

Scott,

I'm glad it worked for you. BTW this is known as Palak Paneer in India. You can add 50% mustard greens and that would make it Sarson ka saag.

You can also substitute Tofu for Paneer.

Meanwhile I'm going to try Bhasin's 2nd version.