Sarson Ka Saag
A classic Punjabi dish with winter's fresh mustard greens
- Cooking time2 hours
Calories332kcal
Sarson ka saag is a much loved Punjabi dish of mustard greens, popular in winter when mustard is in season. It is a delicacy that Punjabis look forward to all year. It is served traditionally with "makke ki roti" made out of maize-flour. To make sarson ka saag, the mustard greens are cleaned, chopped and then slow-cooked along with other seasonal leafy greens such as bathua, radish and spinach.
In this episode of Pasher Bair Ranna, Kolkata-based chef Rahul Arora cooks his mother's version of the classic sarson ka saag, which is velvety but not uniformly smooth. Rahul also puts his own twist to the traditional sarson ka saag, turning it into saag gosht (also sold in the West as "lamb saag") by adding mutton to it.
Mustard greens, especially matured mustard greens from a flowering plant, have far more complexity and texture than the slippery mush that the usual spinach-based saag gosht tends to be. Instead of large chunks of mutton which can take a couple of hours to cook you could also use minced mutton for faster cooking.
Rahul grew up in Hazra in Calcutta and likes to buy his mustard greens from Jadubabur Bajar in Bhowanipur which the Punjabis in Kolkata refer to as "Jaggu Bazar". This is also where he buys the soft sugarcane jaggery, as well as the freshly-milled maize flour that he uses in this dish.
The quantity of jaggery may seem like a lot but the sweetness is reduced when the sugars are caramelised by frying in the oil. Rahul also notes that the jaggery is optional. Indeed, many Punjabi families don't add any sugar or jaggery to their sarson ka saag. This is his family's version.
Books in this recipe
Ingredients
For the saag base
- 1 kg sarson ka saag (mustard greens)
- 250 g palak (young spinach)
- 100 g bathua (betho shaak)
- 50 g mooli ke patte (radish leaves)
- 50 g ginger (finely chopped)
- 30 g green chillies (finely chopped)
- 100 g ganne ka gur (sugercane jaggery)
- 22 g salt
- 300 ml water
- 50 g makai ka atta (corn flour)
For the tadka
- 200 g white ghee
- 60 g gur
- 75 g ginger (finely chopped)
- 35 g garlic (finely chopped)
- 35 g green chillies (finely chopped)
- 450 g onions (finely chopped)
- 25 g kashmiri red chilli powder
- 25 g coriander powder
- 20 g salt
- white butter for garnish
Method
For the saag base
- Carefully pick through the mustard greens and separate them into leaves, younger stems and thicker core. Peel the thicker stems of their plastic-y coating to reveal the inner pith. Also carefully pick through the bunch of spinach, bathua and radish leaves, discarding the roots and other damaged or moth-eaten leaves.
- Wash all the greens thoroughly, changing water multiple times until you've got rid of all the dirt and debris.
- Finely shred the leaves and stems, and transfer to a pressure cooker.
- To it, add finely chopped ginger, green chillies and gur, along with salt and water.
- Turn up the heat and allow the greens to come to a boil and wilt.
- Give everything a good stir, secure the lid of the pressure cooker, and cook for 15 mins after the steam accumulates.
- Open the pressure cooker and pound the saag using a specialised tool called madhani, or with a whisk or a heavy spoon. The idea is to attain an even, cohesive texture.
- Close the lid once again, and pressure-cook for 15 mins.
- Open the lid and add makai ka atta. With the saag still on the heat, stir continuously to allow the makai atta to mix in evenly.
- We now have the saag base ready. This can be cooked with immediately, or the following day, or portioned into bags and frozen.
For the tadka
- Finely chop onions, ginger, garlic and green chillies.
- Heat ghee in a pan. Temper with gur.
- Add the ginger, garlic and green chilles, and fry on medium heat until golden.
- Add the onions and fry them too until they are golden.
- Add kashmiri red chilli and coriander powder along with salt, and braise the spices on medium heat until oil rises to the top.
- Add in your cooked saag base, and bring it to a boil.
- Serve topped with white butter and alongside makki ki roti.
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