Father’s Day Special

Saag Feta

Recipe

The saag feta recipe is what happens when two cultures collide and share their protein. This recipe is a fusion spinoff of palak paneer, with the paneer replaced by the fresh-pressed cheese or Greek feta. The feta cheese is cut into cubes and folded into a bubbling spinach gravy. This spinach recipe requires no special equipment and very little active cooking time. The longest part of the process is building the spinach base, and even that takes barely 15 minutes, perfect for Father's Day. Coriander seeds and cardamom are fried in olive oil; you can use ghee too for a more desi flavour, then followed by onion, ginger, and garlic before the spinach is wilted into the pan. The whole mixture is blended into a chunky, herbaceous paste and then turned into a gravy. The dish comes together with a tempering of cumin seeds in hot oil, with asafoetida and red chilli powder. This step takes under two minutes but elevates the flavour of this saag feta. The backbone of this dish for Father’s Day might be the spinach gravy made from fresh spinach, preferably the tender baby spinach, and feta too deserves a mention. Feta behaves differently from paneer when subjected to heat. Where paneer holds its shape and holds its flavour, feta softens a bit and releases its briny, salty essence into the gravy that acts as a seasoning; so you might want to add less salt during cooking. You get a dish that is creamy, with both the feta cheese and the spinach gravy.