Restaurant-Style Saag Aloo (Indian Potato Spinach curry)

Indian Saag aloo — crispy chunks of spiced potato over a bed of absolutely flavorful spinach curry — is just a fabulous combination! This restaurant style version is deeply seasoned with incredible flavors and textures.

The other day, I was wondering why some vegetable-based Indian dishes use fewer spices than meat-based ones. There are several reasons for this. Veggie dishes, like saag aloo, are more homestyle recipes meant to celebrate the flavors of the veggies. Others like Chana masala also are often homestyle recipes. But why shouldn’t veggies be packed with flavor?

What is Saag Aloo?

Saag Aloo is spiced Greens with Potato. It can be a wet curry style dish or a simple stir fry kind of dish. Greens can be spinach, mustard, amaranth or other local greens. The homestyle aloo saag is usually dryish. This is a restaurant style saag aloo that uses all of the incredible spices from chicken saag style recipes, but without the meat. To make this into a meal, you can add cooked chickpeas into the saag or serve it along with my Punjabi chole chickpea curry, dal, or tofu curry on the side. You can also substitute half of the potatoes with some crispy tofu to make it into a tofu and potato spinach curry. 

To make a restaurant-style version, we add a lot more spices and some more fat added to the saag for a more flavorful, creamier experience. For a better texture of the spinach, I like to pulse the frozen spinach in a food processor for a fine chop like texture instead of too leafy or all pureed. I prefer that texture in saag aloo. If using fresh spinach, then finely chop and use. You can also use a combination of greens for this saag like mustard greens, chard, amaranth greens and other seasonal greens.

I also bake the potatoes ti so they are crispy and golden and serve them just lightly mixed in. Homestyle palak aloo has the potatoes cooked with the spinach for a softer potato dish. For a homestyle less spiced version try this palak aloo.

Why You’ll Love this Saag Aloo

• crispy, spiced potatoes over a creamy, super flavorful spinach curry
• easy to make into a meal by adding chickpeas or tofu!
• so versatile! Make with leafy greens of choice, like mustard greens, baby kale, amaranth greens, etc.
• restaurant-style meal at home in only 40 minutes
• gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free

Ingredients and Substitutions

• potatoes – Use yellow or Yukon gold potatoes, and cut them into ¾” pieces.
• oil – To get the potatoes crispy in the oven and to sauté the saag ingredients.
• ground spices – You will season the potatoes with turmeric, Kashmiri chili powder, garlic powder, garam masala, and salt. For the saag, you’ll need dried fenugreek leaves, garam masala, and ground coriander.
• whole spices – The first flavor layer in the saag comes from roasted whole spices: cumin seeds, black and green cardamom pods, cloves, and a dried red chili.
• onion – Adds umami to the saag.
• ginger garlic paste – Adds another layer of flavor!
• non-dairy yogurt – For creaminess. You can use other non-dairy creams or vegan sour cream or cream cheese. Choose soy-free and/or nut-free, if needed.
• spinach – Use chopped frozen spinach. If you can, pulse it in the food processor before using, so it’s even more finely chopped. That will yield the best texture.
• toppings – Finish the saag aloo with fresh cilantro and lemon juice.

How to Make Aloo Saag

Make the crispy spiced potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 400° F (205° C).

Peel and cube the potatoes into 3/4” cubes and add to a bowl. Then, add the oil and toss well to coat. 

Mix all of the spices in a small bowl, then sprinkle them all over and toss the potatoes to coat. 

Transfer the potatoes to a parchment-lined baking sheet or a baking dish. If you’re using a stoneware or ceramic baking dish, you don’t necessarily need to line it with parchment. You can also just mix the potatoes with the oil and spices in a baking dish, if it is about 9 x 11” or a similar size. If you’re using a baking sheet, keep the potatoes just about 1/4” away from each other, but not spaced out too much, otherwise they’ll dry out.

Bake 22 to 28 minutes. This depends on the baking dish, the potatoes, your oven and so on. 

Cook potatoes on a skillet: add the oil spices and potatoes to a hot skillet over medium heat. Toss well to coat. Cook 2-3 mins, then flip the potatoes, then cover with a lid, reduce heat to medium low and cook until potatoes are tender. 7-9 minutes. Remove from the skillet.

Meanwhile, make the saag. 

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds, and cook until the cumin seeds change color significantly and get very fragrant. This will take anywhere from 1 to 3 minutes, depending on your skillet and your stove. You want the cumin seeds to darken to a good brown. Then, add in the black cardamom, cloves, red chili, and the green cardamom, and mix in for 15 to 20 seconds. 

Mix in the onion, fenugreek leaves, and salt, and cook until the onion is golden, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add splashes of water in between to help the onion cook evenly

Mix in the garam masala and coriander, then add in the ginger garlic paste and a little bit of water. Mix well and let it cook for half a minute. If you’re using minced ginger and garlic, let it cook for another minute or so.

If using frozen spinach, optionally pulse it in a food processor so that it is finely chopped. Do this when it’s frozen else it doesn’t chop down. Add in the non-dairy yogurt, spinach, and the cup of water. Mix in and even it out with a spatula, then cover with the lid and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, or until the spinach is cooked really well and the sauce has thickened a little bit. Taste and adjust the flavor. Add some more salt and heat, if needed.

While the saag is cooking with the lid on, take the potatoes out of the oven and check if they’re done. If not, then continue to bake them for another 5 minutes or so, then remove from the oven and transfer the potatoes to the spinach mixture.

You can lightly fold some of the some of the potatoes in, if you like. I usually fold in half of the potatoes and put the rest on top, especially the really crispy ones.

Serve topped with some cilantro and a good drizzle of lemon with naan or rice or with a side of chickpea curry, dal, or tofu curry.