Homemade Chicken Saag Recipe: Tips for Making Chicken Saag
Written by MasterClass
Last updated: Apr 29, 2023 • 3 min read
Learn how to make chicken saag for your next weeknight dinner with our easy-to-follow recipe.
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What Is Chicken Saag?
Chicken saag (saag murgh) is a North Indian-style chicken curry featuring bite-sized pieces of sautéed chicken cooked in a spiced sauce featuring leafy vegetables like mustard greens, spinach, or a combination of both. In India, the term “saag” refers to any curried leafy green vegetable.
You can serve chicken saag with flatbreads (like naan, roti, or paratha), steamed basmati rice studded with whole cumin seeds (jeera rice), and cucumber raita.
3 Tips for Making Chicken Saag
There are many possible variations of saag, from the greens to the spices used to highlight them. Here’s how to make this simple, satisfying Indian dish your own:
- 1. Choose the greens of your preference. You can make saag using any dark leafy greens you have on hand, like fresh spinach, chard, collard greens, mustard greens, or kale. Frozen spinach or frozen kale are also viable options.
- 2. Boneless vs. bone-in chicken. Both bone-in and boneless chicken are suitable options for making chicken saag. Some cooks prefer the flavor bone-in chicken lends to the dish (especially when the sauce builds in the rendered chicken fat), but boneless chicken is simple to slice into bite-sized portions for easier serving and eating.
- 3. Use a multi-cooker. If you’re short on time, make chicken saag in a multi-cooker. Build the sauce on the sauté function, then nestle in the chicken, and cook on high pressure for eight minutes. Remove the chicken from the multi-cooker to slice it, and blend the curry to your preferred consistency.
Saag vs. Palak: What Is the Difference?
It’s easy to confuse saag and palak when they appear on the menu of an Indian restaurant—usually as saag paneer or palak paneer, with cubed curds of “Indian cottage cheese”—because the dishes may look nearly identical. The word “saag” refers to any curried leafy green, like spinach, fenugreek leaves (methi), or mustard greens (sarson), while “palak” is the Hindi word for “spinach.”
Homemade Chicken Saag Recipe
makes
prep time
10 mintotal time
45 mincook time
35 minIngredients
- 1
Heat 2 tablespoons of ghee or oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the cardamom and coriander to the pan and fry until it becomes aromatic, about 1 minute.
- 2
Next, add the onion to the pan, and sauté until it softens, 5–7 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and green chili, and stir to combine.
- 3
Add the garam masala, turmeric, cumin, and chili powder, followed by the mustard greens or spinach leaves and a ½ cup of water. Fold to combine and cook until the greens have wilted, working in batches if necessary, and season to taste with lemon juice and salt.
- 4
Remove the pan from the heat, and let it cool slightly. Then, use either a handheld immersion blender or transfer the spinach mixture to a food processor or blender, purée the sauce until it becomes mostly smooth. It should still have some texture and substantial pieces of greens. Return the sauce to the pot, and cover.
- 5
Use salt and black pepper to season the chicken pieces on both sides. Heat the remaining tablespoons of ghee or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sear the chicken until it is golden brown on all sides, and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
- 6
Warm the puréed spinach curry over medium heat, and add the chicken. Stir to incorporate. Cook the mixture on medium-low heat for another 5 minutes until the chicken absorbs the flavor of the spices. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed. Finish the dish by folding in the butter until the sauce is glossy.
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