Photos and piece by Mackenzie Smith Kelley

Priya Krishna’s recipe for spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer has taken my favorite Indian dish to new heights. The beauty of this recipe, made first by Priya’s mom, Ritu, on a trip to Greece in the 90’s, isn’t just that tangy, salty feta replacing paneer for a much more complex banter between spinach and cheese. Nope. It’s all that and the bold blend of coriander toasted in ghee or olive oil with ginger, garlic, green chile, and loads of spinach, then blended with lime juice and cilantro.

But it doesn’t stop there!

This dish is finished with whole cumin seeds, dried red chile, and asafetida toasted in ghee or olive oil, one version of chhonk (or tadka, vagar, or oggarane, depending on what part of India we’re talking about). It is worth it to try this recipe and make the chhonk as written with whole cumin and asafetida, because the seeds add a pleasant crunch and the asafetida exponentially enhances the flavor of everything it’s cooked with. But, if you don’t have those two ingredients on hand and or the time to drive to Anand Bazaar to buy them, powdered cumin will work in a pinch and not having asafetida isn’t a deal breaker.



The spices and the feta do a nice job of balancing the bitter flavor that sometimes comes from heartier greens, so swapping out some or all of the spinach for kale, collards or swiss chard is an excellent way to use up the greens in your CSA.

I had the great honor of being hired to photograph Priya’s new book, “Indian-ish, Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family” last year, and have thoroughly enjoyed cooking from the book ever since. My knowledge of how to cook Indian food is so much greater now, as is my understanding of what it means to be an American. Make Priya's recipe for spinach and feta cooked like saag paneer with the bounty from your CSA and you'll get what I am saying.

Recipe from Indian-ish, Recipes and Antics from a Modern American Family



Serves 4

• ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons ghee or olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 2 green cardamom pods, or ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (freshly ground is best)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced into ½-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon roughly chopped fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 pound fresh baby spinach (10 to 12 cups)
• ½ tablespoon fresh lime juice (from about a quarter of a lime), plus more if needed
• 1 small Indian green chile or serrano chile, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces feta cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes (a little over ½ cup)
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ¼ teaspoon asafetida (optional, but really great)
• ¼ teaspoon red chile powder

In a large pan over medium heat, warm ¼ cup of the ghee (or oil). Once the ghee has melted (or the oil begins to shimmer), add the coriander and cardamom and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes, until the seeds start to brown. Add the onion and cook until it is translucent, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the spinach and cook until it is just wilted, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and add the lime juice, green chile, and salt. Let cool for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender and blend into a chunky paste. Return the spinach mixture to the same pan and set it over low heat. Stir in ½ cup water, then gently fold in the feta, being careful not to break up the cubes. Cook for 5 to 7 minutes more to soften the feta slightly and allow it to soak up some of the spinach sauce.



While the feta cooks, in a small pan or butter warmer over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons ghee (or oil) for 1 minute. Add the cumin seeds. As soon as (emphasis on as soon as—you don’t want your cumin to burn!) the cumin seeds start to sputter and brown, about 1 minute max, remove the pan from the heat. Immediately add the asafetida (if using) and red chile powder.

Pour all of the ghee (or oil) mixture into the spinach and feta once that is done cooking.