Curry House Chicken Saagwala
Tender pre-cooked chicken in a thick curry house spinach sauce with warming spices, green chilli, fresh coriander and lemon
Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 20 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course Main Course
Cuisine British Indian
Servings 4
Calories 84 kcal
- 30 ml rapeseed oil or ghee
- 1 green finger chilli finely sliced and divided
- 20 g fresh coriander stalks and leaves separated
- 25 g Garlic and Ginger Paste
- 2 teaspoons Mixed Powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder or to taste
- 25 g double concentrated tomato purée
- 50 ml hot water divided
- 400 ml Curry House Base Sauce heated to a gentle simmer
- 600 g Curry House Pre-Cooked Chicken cut into bite-sized pieces
- 450 g Curry House Pre-Cooked Spinach
- ½ teaspoon Garam Masala
- 10 ml fresh lemon juice plus more only if needed
- ½ teaspoon fine salt plus more only if needed
Keep the base sauce at a gentle simmer. Loosen the prepared spinach, separate the chicken pieces, finely chop the coriander stalks and roughly chop the leaves.
Heat the oil or ghee in a wide 3 litre pan over medium high heat. Add half the green chilli and the coriander stalks, followed by the Garlic and Ginger Paste. Stir continuously for 45 seconds without allowing the paste to brown.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the Mixed Powder, cumin and Kashmiri chilli powder and stir for 20 seconds. Add the tomato purée and 30ml hot water, then cook for 60 to 90 seconds until the tomato darkens slightly and oil begins to show at the edges.
Add 200ml hot Curry House Base Sauce. Increase the heat and let it bubble steadily for 2 to 3 minutes, scraping caramelised sauce from the sides of the pan.
Add the remaining 200ml base sauce and the Curry House Pre-Cooked Chicken. Simmer for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until every piece is steaming hot throughout.
Fold in the Curry House Pre-Cooked Spinach and simmer gently for 4 to 5 minutes, until hot and thick enough to coat the chicken. Add up to the remaining 20ml hot water only if the sauce becomes too thick.
Reduce the heat to low. Stir in the Garam Masala, lemon juice, three quarters of the coriander leaves and fine salt. Taste and adjust only if needed.
Remove the pan from the heat and rest for 2 minutes. Garnish with the remaining green chilli and coriander leaves before serving.
- The prepared spinach recipe yields approximately 450g, so one complete batch can be used here.
- For a milder curry, deseed the green chilli and reduce or omit the Kashmiri chilli powder.
- If the spinach releases water, reduce the curry before adding any reserved hot water.
- Curry House Chicken Tikka can replace the plain pre-cooked chicken in the same quantity.
- For raw chicken, use 650g boneless thigh pieces and cook them completely before adding the spinach.
Calories: 84kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 1gFat: 7gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 1gSodium: 737mgPotassium: 85mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 671IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 15mgIron: 1mg
Keyword chicken and spinach curry, chicken saag recipe, curry house chicken saag, restaurant style chicken saagwala