Chicken Saag with Beetroot Rice
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Prep: 15 mins
Cook: 25-30 mins
Tender, high welfare chicken from Pete and Sue in Devon is a match made in spinach. Traditional Indian curry gets a gingery twist thanks to our Jassy.
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381 kcal
(per portion)
Ingredients you'll need
Recipe Ingredients Image
  • 3 beetroot
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • A thumb of ginger
  • A thumb of turmeric
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 large handfuls of baby leaf spinach
  • A pack of skinless, boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
From your kitchen
  • 6 tbsp cold water
  • Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 250ml boiling water
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
You'll need
  • Food processor (optional)
  • A couple of deep frying pans or woks with lids
Step by step this way
  • 1.

    Pop the onion in a deep frying pan or wok with 2 tbsp cold water. Season. Gently cook over a low heat for 5-6 mins till soft. Stir often. If it looks like it’s going to catch and burn, add a bit more water.

  • 2.

    Stir the garlic, ginger and turmeric into the onion. Add 1 tsp of the garam masala. Cook and stir for 1 min till the pan smells aromatic.

  • 3.

    Add the spinach to the pan with 150ml boiling water. Cook and stir for 5 mins till it has wilted. Tip it into the processor. Blitz a few times to make a thick sauce. If you don’t have a processor, cut the spinach finely before you cook it.

  • 4.

    Slice the chicken breasts in half horizontally to make four thin flat steaks. Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in the pan you made the spinach sauce in (wipe it clean first). Add the chicken. Fry for 3-4 mins. Flip and fry for another 3-4 mins.

  • 5.

    Add the spinach sauce to the chicken with 100 ml boiling water. Keep the heat medium low and gently cook the sauce and chicken together for 5 mins till the chicken is cooked through. Take off the heat. Cover. Set aside.

  • 6.

    Measure out 2 tsp of the cumin seeds. Warm the cumin seeds in a deep frying pan or wok for 1-2 mins till the seeds pop and smell fragrant.

  • 7.

    Add the beetroot to the cumin seeds with 4 tbsp cold water and salt and pepper. Cook and stir over a medium heat for 5-8 mins till the beetroot is warmed through but still has plenty of bite. Serve the chicken saag with the beetroot rice.

  • 8.

    Scrub the beetroot and roughly chop them – no need to peel. Pop them in a food processor. Pulse till you have fine ‘rice’ grains. Tip the beetroot into a bowl. Wipe the processor clean. No processor? Just coarsely grate the beetroot. Peel and finely chop the onion, garlic, ginger and turmeric.

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