Easy Creamy Spinach Curry
This easy spinach curry recipes uses frozen spinach and a handful of other common staple ingredients to create a deliciously spiced creamy spinach curry. A base recipe that will work with paneer, chickpeas, mushrooms, potato or any other filling you would like to pair with spinach!
Ingredients
- 1 small red or white onion, diced (if your onion is large, use 1/2)
- 1 tbsp garlic , chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger, chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup (240 ml) vegetable broth
- ½ cup (120 ml) cream
- 2 tbsp yogurt
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 12 oz (350 g) frozen spinach
- ¼ cup cilantro (fresh coriander), chopped
- 1 lemon, for squeezing
- salt and pepper, to taste - be generous
Your choice of filling...
- Paneer: Chop block of paneer (or use halloumi or bread cheese) into cubes. Fry until golden on each side, then stir in at the end.
- Potato: Chop and saute a couple of medium sized potatoes, stir through at the end.
- Chickpeas: Add two cans, rinsed and drained, at the same time you add the spinach.
- Mushrooms: Saute or roast up to 1 lb (450g) of mushrooms and stir through at the end. Sliced or whole mushrooms will work equally well. Feel free to use canned mushrooms - just drain and add at the same time as the spinach.
- Cauliflower: Chop into florets, season and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven at 200C / 400F for 20 minutes until golden. Stir into the sauce at the end.
Instructions
- Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large, deep saute pan. Saute the onions over a low-medium heat until they are soft and just starting to brown.1 small red or white onion
- Add the garlic and ginger, fry for another minute until fragrant.1 tbsp garlic, 1 tbsp ginger
- Add the spices and another glug of oil or a pat of salted butter. Cook until everything is well mixed and fragrant (this will be less than a minute - we don't want to burn the spices so we'll move on quickly).1 tbsp garam masala, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tbsp curry powder
- Add the tomato paste and mix through with the other ingredients. Cook for a minute or two in the pan to deepen the flavors a little.3 tbsp tomato paste
- Add the vegetable broth to the pan. Allow to simmer, partially covered, for 5-10 minutes, in which time the sauce will thicken up a little.1 cup vegetable broth
- While the sauce simmers, defrost the spinach and drain out the excess liquid. My favorite way to do this is to microwave the spinach for a couple of minutes and then put it in a fine sieve (the kind you'd use for icing sugar). I use a wooden spatula to press the spinach up to the mesh to squeeze the water out. Another way to do this is to put the spinach in a cheese cloth, tie it up tight and squeeze until the water has all come out. Once that's done, add the spinach to the sauce and mix it through. Season well with salt and pepper and allow to simmer gently for a couple of minutes to get it warmed up again, since the spinach might have gone in fairly cold.If you're using canned chickpeas or another filling that goes in cold or room temperature, you can add that now too.12 oz frozen spinach, salt and pepper
- Add the cream to the pan, and stir through. Cook for another minute, just to get it warmed back up again after adding the cold cream.1/2 cup cream
- Remove from the heat and mix the yogurt and cilantro through. Squeeze about a quarter of the lemon's juice in, mix through. The rest of the lemon can be cut up into wedges for serving.2 tbsp yogurt, 1/4 cup cilantro (fresh coriander), 1 lemon
- If you are adding a hot / cooked filling, mix it in now.
- Serve with rice and/or naan, and lemon wedges for squeezing.
Notes
Please note that the nutritional information doesn't include any fillings, rice or naan.
Calories: 174kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 6g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 35mg, Sodium: 411mg, Potassium: 571mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 5g, Vitamin A: 11345IU, Vitamin C: 14mg, Calcium: 169mg, Iron: 3mg