i love me some indian food its so good and all that butter makes it super delicious.
i was eating saag paneer the other day and was wondering what is missing…then i thought about it and came to the conclusion that if meat was added to this dish, this would be the best indian dish of all time.
so whats the reason meat is not added to saag paneer? it just seems like a match made in heaven.
Well, “saag paneer” is by definition, blended vegetables with that cheese thing. Saag = veggie, and paneer = cheese. Saying that the dish could be improved with meat just means you want a different dish, like saag + chicken, saag + lamb, etc.
igor - get some saag paneer and any Indian chicken dish with chicken chunks - tandoori chicken or butter chicken; then take the chunks out and put them in saag. There.
Maybe saag paneer was a “peasant” dish for those who couldn’t afford meat and the traditional recipe continued to this day. Nuthin’ to stop you from making your own variation of the recipe, though.
And naan bread!!! Ya gotta have naan bread at the end of the meal!!!
^ That “can’t afford meat” story doesn’t always work in an Indian setting. 2 out of 4 castes (priests and merchants, out of the hierarchy of priests, warriors, merchants and laborers, very roughly) don’t eat meat to avoid violence, not because they can’t afford it. There are regional variations, of course. Some Brahmins (priests) eat fish, some women from all castes don’t eat meat and so on. Anyway, saag paneer and many delicious veggie dishes could be a result of experimentation by the non-meat-eaters.