Sarson ka Saag

Name: Sarson ka Saag
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Punjabi
Ingredients: 750g, thick stalks removed and leaves roughly chopped mustard greens; 250g, chopped spinach; 1 small bunch (100g), chopped methi leaves; 3 tbsp maize flour; 2 inch, half chopped and half julienned ginger; 10 cloves, chopped garlic; 3, chopped green chilli; 1 large (150g), finely chopped onion; 3 tbsp ghee; 20g butter; to taste salt; 1.5 cups water

slow-cooked mustard greens, bitter and buttery, thickened with a little coarse flour

egg freegluten freenut freevegetarian

Sarson ka Saag — Photo: Biswarup Ganguly · CC BY 3.0

Prep25 min

Cook75 min

Active100 min

Serves4

Difficultymoderate

Per serving334 kcal

Allergens in Sarson ka Saag: milk, mustard.

Ingredients

Quantities for 4.

750g, thick stalks removed and leaves roughly chopped Mustard Greens
250g, chopped Spinachsoftens the bitterness of the mustard
1 small bunch (100g), chopped Methi Leavesfor a bitter edgeoptional
3 tbsp Maize Flourstirred in at the end to thicken the saag
2 inch, half chopped and half julienned Ginger
10 cloves, chopped Garlic
3, chopped Green Chilli
1 large (150g), finely chopped Onionfor the final tempering
3 tbsp Ghee
20g Butterto finishoptional
to taste Salt
1.5 cups Water

Cookware

stovetop, pressure cooker, blender

Ingredient names in English →

Checked against the ingredient list for ten allergens: milk, egg, fish, crustaceans, tree nuts, peanuts, sesame, mustard, soy and gluten. Brands vary, so read the label on anything new to you.

Before you start

Wash the greens in three changes of water. Mustard leaves hold a lot of grit in the crinkles.
Strip the leaves off any stalk thicker than a pencil; those stalks stay stringy however long you cook them.
Mix the flour with 4 tbsp cold water to a smooth slurry before it goes near the pot, or it will go lumpy.

Method

Put the mustard greens, spinach, methi, chopped ginger, garlic, green chillies, 1 tsp salt and 1.5 cups water in the pressure cooker and cook 15 minutes at full pressure.
Let the pressure drop, then uncover. The greens should be army-green and completely collapsed.
Blend to a coarse puree, or crush with a wooden masher for the traditional rough texture.Do not blend it smooth. Saag should have a slight grain to it.
Return the puree to the pan and bring to a bare simmer.
Whisk in the flour slurry in a thin stream and cook 25 minutes on low, stirring every few minutes.This long simmer is what turns raw bitterness into something round and sweet. Do not shorten it.
Meanwhile heat the ghee in a small pan and fry the chopped onion until golden brown, about 8 minutes.
Add the julienned ginger to the onion and fry 1 minute more.
Pour the tempering into the saag, scraping the pan clean, and simmer 10 minutes more.
Taste for salt (greens need more than you expect) and finish with the butter melting on top.

Storage

Keeps 4 days refrigerated and genuinely improves for the first two. Reheat slowly with a splash of water and fresh butter. Freezes 3 months.

Nutrition Medium estimate

One serving of Sarson ka Saag (417 g) is about 334 calories, or 81 calories per 100 g.

Medium protein: 15 g a serving, 18% of the calories

	Per serving417 g	Per 100 g
Calories	334 kcal	81 kcal
Protein	14.7 g	4 g
Carbohydrate	40.6 g	10 g
of which sugars	4.7 g	1 g
Fibre	15.2 g	4 g
Fat	16.8 g	4 g
of which saturated	9.0 g	2 g
of which unsaturated	5.0 g	1 g

Ingredients given to taste count as zero, so the real figures run a little higher. Nearest database match used for methi leaves. Estimated from raw ingredients using USDA FoodData Central.

More like this: Vegetarian Indian recipes · Gluten-free Indian recipes · Punjabi recipes

Times, yields, allergens and nutrition are guidance. Use your own judgement on doneness and on storing. More in About.