Saag Bhaji: An Easy Indian Vegetarian Dish

Although we are not vegetarians, we occasionally enjoy cooking vegetarian meals. One of our top choices when having a meat-free night is saag bhaji. It is tasty, easy to adapt, budget-friendly, and quick to make.

The word saag simply means spinach, while bhaji is the Hindi word for fried vegetables. When people see this dish on an Indian restaurant menu, they often assume it is similar to onion bhajis, which are deep-fried. However, saag bhaji is a spinach dish closer to a curry than a fried accompaniment. It is also similar to saag aloo, minus the potatoes.

Sometimes we eat this spiced spinach dish as a main meal and serve it with rice. Other times, we serve it as an accompaniment to one of our homemade curries, such as our Kashmiri lamb rogan josh or cheat’s leftover turkey curry. If we are really splashing out on the culinary front, we serve it as part of a platter of Indian dishes so that everyone at the table can sample a little of everything.

Here is an easy recipe for saag bhaji.

Saag Bhaji: An Easy Indian Vegetarian Dish

Recipe by Liz FlynnCourse: International Recipes, Recipes, Vegetarian and Vegan RecipesCuisine: IndianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

30

minutes

Vegan

Omit the butter

Vegetarian

YES

Gluten-free

YES

Dairy-free

Omit the butter

Saag bhaji is one of the simplest vegetarian Indian dishes you can make- and it’s delicious!

Ingredients for the Saag Bhaji Recipe

• A tablespoon of olive oil

• 1 oz. butter (omit for vegan version)

• 450 g bag of baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped

• 1 small red onion, finely diced

• 3 finger chillies, halved lengthways, then finely sliced

• 1 tsp each of coriander seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, and black mustard seeds

• 1 tbsp. tomato puree

• 4 cloves of garlic

• 1 tsp each crushed fenugreek and curry leaves

• ½ cup of water

• Salt and black pepper to season

• Rice of your choice to serve

Directions: How to Make Saag Bhaji

• Put a large pan over medium heat and add the oil, butter, and onions, then cook for two minutes.
• Place a small pan over low heat and add all the spices (a process called tempering spices).
• After two minutes, remove the pan with the spices from the heat and transfer the spices to a mortar.
• At the same time, add the chopped garlic and chillies to the onions.
• Crush the warmed spices using the pestle and mortar, then add to the onions, garlic, chilli, and oil.
• Cook for another two minutes before adding the tomato puree and water.
• Add the chopped spinach to the pan and cook for five minutes.
• Stir occasionally to ensure the ingredients are well combined.
• Season the saag bhaji with salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper.
• Serve with your choice of rice.

Additional Tips

• Adapting the heat level in a saag bhaji is easy. Leave the seeds in the chillies if you like it hot and deseed the chillies for less heat. Similarly, add or reduce the chillies you use to suit your tastes.
• Alternatives to rice are crispy potatoes or homemade flatbreads.

Things You Might Also Like to Try If You Like Our Saag Bhaji Recipe

• Try our saag bhaji recipe with our recipe for lentil dahl with coconut (pictured). The creaminess of the dahl with the earthy tones and spices of the spinach dish complement each other perfectly.
• To pair a wine with this meal, read our article on pairing wine with Indian cuisine. It will help you find the perfect accompaniment for your meal.
• You might also like our recipes for sweet potato saag aloo and kala chana saag. These are also vegan-friendly Indian dishes that you can eat as a main course or serve as a side dish with curries, rice, and bread.
• Have you tried our recipe for saag bhaji? Let us know what you think in the comments below.