Tender Lamb Saagwala (with Boneless Lamb)
Lamb Saagwala is a delectable north Indian dish of succulent lamb pieces in a delicious spinach sauce fragrant with aromatic spices.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
To marinate Lamb
- 1.5 lb (750g) lamb I use boneless lamb leg cut in 2 inch pieces
- ⅓ cup (100g) whole yogurt plain, I use greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste store bought or homemade (pound togther 3 garlic cloves and ½ inch fresh ginger)
- ½ teaspoon salt
To Make Lamb Saagwala
- 300 g spinach I use fresh spinach bunch
- ¼ cup mustard oil or any cooking oil of choice
- 1 large (~150g) onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon coriander powder
- 1.5 teaspoon cumin powder
- 2 teaspoon red chili powder (hot), adjust to taste
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 2 medium (½ cup) tomato pureed,(½ cup puree or tomato sauce)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon kasuri methi dry fenugreek leaves, skip if not available
- ½ teaspoon garam masala adjust to taste
Whole Spices
- 1 inch cinnamon stick or scant ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 large bay leaf
- 6-8 black peppercorns
- 3 cloves or ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 twig mace or ⅛ teaspoon mace powder
Instructions
Marinate Lamb Meat
- Make sure that the lamb meat is thawed if using frozen. Using a paper towel, pat it dry.
- Place in a large bowl. Add yogurt, ginger-garlic paste and salt.
- Using your hands, rub the meat to coat thoroughly. Marinating the meat tenderizes it, and the meat cooks to succulent.
- Leave to marinate for 4-6 hours or overnight (if possible). If you are in a hurry, still try to marinate for at least 2-3 hours.
PREPARE THE SPINACH
- Bring enough water to a boil. Add little salt to water and add the cleaned spinach.Note - Read "Spinach Sauce" section in the blog post to read my notes about spinach varieties, texture and other greens
- Once the leaves wilt, pick using tongs and add to a food processor jar fitted with a metal blade.
- Grind the spinach. I keep it on the coarse side.
SLOW COOKING PALAK LAMB MASALA
- In a large dutch oven (I use my 4qt), add the mustard oil. Place on a medium flame and let heat up.
- Once the oil is warm (not hot), add the whole spices and saute for 10 seconds stirring continuously. Take care that the spices don't burn. Cloves and black pepperorns sometimes pop in hot oil so please be careful.
- Add the chopped onions next. On low medium heat, for the next 8-10 minutes, cook the onion till they become golden brown (image 5). Browning the onions is one of the key steps in making any indian curry, please dont rush this process. Second tip is to avoid stirring the onions constantly while they brown. If you do so, instead of browning, the onions will become sweaty and start steaming. Steamy, sticky onions = less flavor!
- Once the onions have browned, add 2-3 tablespoons of water and immediately add the marinated lamb. Adding water avoids the lamb from sticking. Sprinkle all the ground spices (except garam masala) over the meat. Keep the stove on low medium and mix well.
- For the next 7-10 minutes, keep stirring the lamb. You will not see any liquid at this stage (image 7)and its perfectly fine to get tempted to add water. But don't!
- In about 12-14 minutes, as the lamb meat starts warming up, it will start releasing its juices.Along with it, the water from yogurt will also start getting released. Keep stirring.
- In about 15-17 minutes, you will see liquid in the pot. This is what we want. We will now reduce the heat to low and cover the pot. Let the lamb cook for about 45 minutes to an hour or until its about 90% cooked. You will need to check 2-3 times and stir frequently to make sure that the contents are not drying out. Add ½ cup or more water if needed. This depends on quality, cut and kind of meat. I didn't add any water.
- Open the lid and mix in the blended tomato and tomato paste. Cover and again let cook for 8-12 minutes
- When you will uncover the lid,you will notice that the lamb is fork tender (though its not falling apart, we dont want that). You will also see thin layer of oil seperating on the top and sides of the pot.
- Add the ground spinach, garam masala and kasuri methi. Give a gentle mix.
- Without covering, let simmer for another 6-8 minutes to allow the flavors to meld together. At first, the spinach sauce will look dull, however, eventually after simmering, you will see thin layer of oil on top. Make sure that the meat is not overcooked or falling apart, it will spoil the texture of the dish. Adjust cooking times as needed until the meat is cooked to tender.
- This is when your lamb saagwaala is ready! Finish with chopped cilantro if you wish.
- Let rest for 20-25 minutes if possible for flavors to deepen. Serve warm.
USING INSTANT POT
- On IP saute mode, follow the recipe steps as noted above until the meat starts releasing water. Once the meat is not longer pink,cancel saute mode. Add tomatoes and 1 cup water. Close the lid. Press "Pressure cook". Pressure cook on high for 11- 13 minutes. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.Add the spinach puree, kasuri methi and garam masala. If needed add some water to adjust the consistency depending on your liking. Don't make too soupy.Let simmer on saute mode for another 8-10 minutes till the sauce is bubbly. You will see thin layer of oil on top and the color of spinach will be deeper. Finish with chopped cilantro if you wish.
USING STOVE PRESSURE COOKER
- Once the meat is not longer pink, add tomatoes and 1 cup water, close the lid and pressure cook the lamb meat on low medium heat for 7-8 whistles for about 15 minutes. Mix in the spinach, finishing spices and simmer for another 10 minutes or until the spinach sauce is bubbly and shiny.
Notes
- Choose good quality lamb, mutton or goat meat for tenderness and flavor. If you're using tougher cuts of meat, you might consider pressure cooking or Instant pot cooking for a more tender result.
- Adjust the amount of red chili powder and garam masala to your taste preference in this recipe. You can add a touch of sugar to balance the acidity if needed.
- Brown the onions very well to add depth. Nicely browned onions add mild sweetness to the curry.
- Depending of the kind of meat, the cut of meat, desired tenderness of meat and whether the meat is bone-in or boneless, pleases adjust the cooking times mentioned in the recipe card.
- Add a few tablespoons of heavy cream at the end for an indulgent, restauntant like finish.
- Using Chopped Spinach - If you want to use chopped spinach to make this lamb saagwala recipe, skip the steps of blanching and pureeing the spinach. Add chopped spinach at the same stage when I have mentioned to add spinach puree and simmer with lamb for 10-12 minutes or until the spinach has wilted. You can add baby spinach as it is. However if you are using spinach bunch, I suggest chopping it. Discard the tough spinach stems and finely chop the tender stems so that they cook to soft while simmering in the gravy.