How To Make Chicken Curry With Spinach (Saag Chicken)

A great way to get vegetables and protein into one dish. My kids love it because it can be ‘mild’ yet tasty. But if your tastes are anything like mine and you like it hot and spicy, just double the amount of Garam Masala, Red Chili Powder and Curry Powder listed below.

You Will Need

* 2 Pounds Boneless, Skinless Chicken Thighs , cut to bitesize pieces
* 4 tsp Oil
* 1 inch Cinnamon Stick
* 1 Big Black Cardamom
* 4 Cloves
* 2 Bay Leaves
* 2 Green Cardomoms
* 1 Large Onion , finely chopped
* 6 Medium Tomatoes , finely chopped
* 2 heaped tsp Ginger , grated
* 5 Cloves Of Garlic , finely chopped
* Green Chili , finely chopped - to taste
* 1 tsp Cumin Powder
* 1 tsp Coriander Powder
* 1 tsp Garam Masala
* ½ tsp Red Chili Powder
* 1 tsp Curry Powder
* Salt , to taste
* 16 ounces Frozen, Chopped Spinach
* 1 Medium Non-Stick Pan

Step 1:
Prepare The Pan
Heat the pan on a medium flame, and start by adding oil to your pan.
You want to make sure the oil is hot before adding the rest of your ingredients.
Step 2:
Add The Spices
Next we add all the spices.That's your black cardamom, your cinnamon stick, green cardamom, bay leaves and cloves.
Step 3:
Add The Onions
Add your onions. Give it a good mix. I prefer to cover it so that it gets cooked in its own heat and it's a lot faster that way.
Keep an eye on your onions. You'll want to stir it frequently so that it doesn't burn on the bottom.
Step 4:
Add More Spices
After your onions have been cooking for five minutes then you'll add in garlic, our ginger, green chili and give it another good stir.
It's always best to cook your onions first because if you put ginger and garlic into hot oil it tends to burn a lot faster than onions do.
Step 5:
Add The Tomatos
When the onions look done go ahead and add your tomatoes and mix again. Go ahead and cover it again. We're going to wait for the tomatoes and onion mixture reduce and let the oil seperate from the mixture.
Step 6:
Wait For The Separating
The tomatoes should be ready by now. They've been cooking for about 15 to 20 minutes.
If you notice here you can actually see the oil seperating from the masala. That's what you really want. That's what you are trying to achieve.
Step 7:
Add The Dry Masalas
Now we are going to add our dry masalas. Our cumin powder, coriander powder, and then the masala, any store bought curry powder. (Just make sure it's good quality). And our chili powder and salt. Let's give it another good mix.
Step 8:
Add The Chicken
Now we are ready to add in our washed cut chicken thighs. It's a good idea to wash the chicken really well. Also it's a good idea to use different chopping boards to chop chicken and to chop the rest of your veggies.
It is ok to use different parts of a chicken. We have used chicken thighs but that is because we prefer chicken thighs to any other part. It's a lot juicier and it's a lot more tender. But you can use the thighs and you can use the whole chicken cut up into pieces. It's absolutely your choice.
Step 9:
Add The Spinach
After the chicken has been cooking about eight to ten minutes, go ahead and add in the spinach and let it cook some more.
The spinach actually adds a lot of color, a lot of drama to it. I really like it. The kids get their vegetables like I mentioned and we get our proteins and it's just awesome.
Step 10:
Monitor The Chicken
So how are we going to know when the chicken is done? Well the best way to find out if the chicken is done is you just take a piece like this and cut it in the center.
It's done if number one, if it cuts easily. And number two there shouldn't be any pink portions on the inside.
So at this point its not quite as tender as I would like it so I'm going to cook it for another few more minutes.
It's not pink in the center anymore so I'm going to mix it again and cover it one more time and cook it for another two or three minutes more.
Step 11:
Serve
So we're all ready to serve and actually to eat.
It's a dish that doesn't have a whole lot of gravy so I would serve it with either nan or chipate or bread. It does have a little bit of gravy just to give it the moist feel, and you can have it with rice as well.
There's no hard or fast rule about it.
Join us on another episode of ShowMetheCurry.com - Adding a pinch of spice to your life!