Recipes › Potato › Saag Aloo with Mustard Seeds and Coconut
Saag Aloo with Mustard Seeds and Coconut
A weeknight staple that punches well above its effort level — floury potatoes cooked through in a fragrant spiced base with wilted spinach, finished with toasted mustard seeds and desiccated coconut for a subtle sweetness and texture. This is the kind of vegetable-led curry you come back to again and again because it is quick, deeply satisfying, and works with whatever greens need using up. Ready in under thirty minutes from start to finish.
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Ingredients
- 800 g floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper), peeled and cut into 2cm cubes
- 200 g baby spinach, washedor use roughly chopped mature spinach or kale, add 3 minutes earlier
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil or coconut oil
- 1½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 3 cm fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1 green chilli, finely sliced, seeds in or out to taste
- 1½ tsp ground cumin
- 1½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 200 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 150 ml water
- 30 g desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 15 g fresh coriander, roughly chopped (optional)
- 1 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Contains: cereals gluten, mustard, nuts.
Method
- Heat the oil in a large, wide-based pan or deep frying pan with a lid over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let them pop and crackle for about 30 seconds — keep the lid nearby in case they spit.About 1 min
- Add the diced onion and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until softened and beginning to turn golden at the edges.About 5 min
- Add the garlic, ginger, and green chilli. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant. Add the ground cumin, ground coriander, and turmeric. Stir everything together and cook for another 30 seconds.About 2 min
- Tip in the cubed potatoes and stir well to coat in the spice base. Add the tinned tomatoes, water, and salt. Stir, bring to a simmer, then put the lid on and cook over a medium-low heat for 12 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the potatoes are completely tender when pierced with a knife.About 14 min
- Remove the lid. Add the desiccated coconut and stir through. Add the baby spinach in two or three batches, stirring each batch in until just wilted before adding the next. This takes about 2 minutes in total.About 2 min
- Squeeze in the lemon juice, taste, and adjust salt. Scatter over the fresh coriander if using, and serve with flatbreads or basmati rice.About 1 min
Tips
- Cut the potatoes into even 2cm cubes — this is the single most important thing for getting them cooked through in time. Uneven chunks mean some will be mushy while others are still hard.
- Do not skip the tempering step for the mustard seeds. Those 30 seconds of popping in hot oil develop a nuttiness you cannot replicate by just stirring them in with the other spices.
- A splash more water during the potato-simmering stage is fine if the pan looks dry — floury potatoes absorb liquid fast and can catch on the bottom.
Ring the changes
- Stir in half a tin of drained chickpeas when you add the spinach for extra protein and bulk.
- Swap the desiccated coconut for 100ml of coconut milk added with the tomatoes for a creamier, slightly richer version.
Keeping it
Keeps in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The flavours improve overnight. Reheat gently in a pan with a splash of water, or microwave covered on medium power. Freezes well for up to 2 months.
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