You’re tired, you want a good rice and curry meal, with both protein and veg, and you want to put minimal effort into cooking. Here’s my favorite hack — this got me through a fair bit of grad school. Also when the kids were little and I was exhausted. 20 minutes, no chopping.
Right now, it looks like you can make this for about $10-$15, depending on grocery prices in your area. I buy 12 pack cans of saag and keep them in the pantry — about $4 / can on Amazon, possibly significantly cheaper at your local Indian grocery.
Vegetarians can use a can of cooked chickpeas or a packet of frozen paneer instead of chicken. I haven’t tried it with green jackfruit, but I think that would work well too. Lamb and shrimp also work just fine, and are traditional.
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Chicken Saag (Curried Spinach) with Rice
(20 minutes, serves 2-4, depending on appetites!)
- Have leftover rice.
(If you don’t have leftover rice, you can either make rice, or use naan, roti, paratha, etc. Those can be bought frozen and toasted to deliciousness very quickly.) - Heat about 2 T oil, add up to 1 T cayenne (to your taste, you can skip it entirely if you want), stir for 5-10 seconds on high.
(You probably want a vent fan going, as it’s likely to make you and everyone else around cough otherwise.) - Dump in 4-6 boneless skinless chicken thighs. (You can trim them if you like, but you don’t actually have to.) Stir for a few more seconds until well-coated in chili oil and lightly seared.
(Still cooking on high.) - Dump in one 15 oz. can saag and stir in. (I like Jyoti, but there are various fine brands.)
(Still cooking on high.) - Rinse can and dump water (about 1/2 can) into pot. Stir in and bring back to a boil.
- Cover, lower heat to medium, and let cook 5-10 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.
(You can wander away at this point and plop onto the couch for a bit — just set a timer if you’re likely to forget.) - Uncover, raise heat back to high, and cook another 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally, until spinach sauce is thick and happy. If you want, break up cooked chicken with your stirring spoon. Taste and adjust salt, etc. if needed, but I actually don’t do anything else to this; I like it as is.
(Heat up your leftover rice if you’ve got it now, adding a few sprinkles of water before sticking it in the microwave, to help it hydrate. Or toast frozen bread now.) - Serve chicken saag hot over leftover rice. (Or with bread!)
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Link to Jyoti saag on Amazon: https://a.co/d/0fvvjVvL