Saag Aloo Pastie

‘Saag Aloo’ Pastie

With beetroot raita and cucumber salad

October sees the evening drawing in, spices coming out of the cupboard and comfort food drift into the weekly meals. As this year is so unusually mild (if not warm), it isn’t quite time to break out the casserole dish just yet.

Potatoes and spinach (or any leafy greens will work) love spices and this is a take on the Indian-British favourite. Lots of cumin, garam masala and garlic, all in the convenient wrapper of puff pastry. Cooling side dishes also bring some crunch and freshness so this does not feel too much like a comfort food just yet.


Makes 4
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
350g potatoes
Oil
200g spinach
2 onions
4 garlic cloves
2 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp Kashmir chilli powder (optional)
2 tsp garam masala
1 packet of ready rolled puff pastry
1 beaten egg
1 large beetroot (cooked or raw)
150g yoghurt (any type)
1 SLF short cucumber
2 spring onions
Cider vinegar
A pinch of sugar
Your favourite herbs
Salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 200°C

1. Begin with the pastie filling. Scrub and dice the potatoes to the size of the end of your thumb and cook until just tender in boiling water. Drain and leave to steam for a few minutes.

2. Meanwhile peel and slice the onion and garlic, then cook in a large frying pan with a small puddle of oil over a moderate heat to slightly darken the edges.

3. Wash and chop the spinach.

4. Once the onions have browned around the edges, turn up the heat and add the potatoes, 1tsp of the cumin seeds and toss everything together. Season with plenty of salt, pepper and garam masala (and the chilli powder if you like it hot).

5. Add the spinach and cook for a minute or two until the spinach begins to wilt. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

6. While the mix is cooling, marinade the salad. Split the cucumber lengthways and remove the seeds. Finely slice along with the spring onions. Sprinkle enough vinegar over the top to just dampen the vegetables, season with a good pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. Leave to one side.

7. Now the pastie filling should be cool enough to handle, assemble the pastie. Unroll the pastry and divide into 4 along its length. In the half closest to you, pile a quarter of the filling, leaving a finger width gap around the edges. Brush this gap with egg glaze and fold over the other half of pastry to form a square pastie. Repeat this with the other three sections.

8. Place the pasties on a baking tray lined with parchment, make a slit in the top and brush with egg glaze before baking in the oven to a good dark golden colour (check after 20 minutes).

9. While the pasties are cooking, grate the beetroot (raw or cooked) and mix with the yoghury. Season with the remaining cumin seeds.

10. Use your favourite herbs to season the cucumber and the raita if you wish and serve with the cooked pasties. Enjoy!