Sarson ka saag recipe – a popular dish from Punjab made from mustard greens during the winter season and served with makki ki roti.
Traditionally sarson ka saag is slow cooked on low flame. But here I have used pressure cooker to speed up the process. Since we are going to invest some time in sorting and cleaning greens. After that, if we slow cook the greens, it will take lot of time. Nowaday in busy lifestyle, no one wants to spend that much time in kitchen, right?
Sarson ka saag is called ‘Sarson da saag’ in Punjabi language. It is paired with makki di roti. To make the complete meal, a glass of lassi and some sliced onions are served on side.
This is simple recipe made with very minimal ingredients and no spices used. The main ingredient is mustard leaves aka sarson. Apart from this, other green leafy vegetables spinach and bathua are added.
Greens are cooked with ginger, garlic and green chilies. Then made coarse paste out of it with addition of makki ka atta. Lastly tempering is added on top.
Since no other spices are added here, the main flavor and taste comes from the mustard greens.
Mustard leaves has slightly bitter taste, so we are adding little jaggery here. Also addition of spinach slightly mellow down the bitter taste.
This recipe is adapted from – The Dhabas Of Amritsar
Basic Info:
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2
Cuisine: Punjabi, North Indian
Category: Main course – Curry
Ingredients:
For curry:
Mustard leaves (Sarson) – 500 grams or 6 cups of chopped leaves loosely packed
Spinach (Palak) – 250 grams or 3 cups of chopped leaves loosely packed
Ginger – 1 inch piece
Garlic – 2 cloves
Green chilies – 2-3
Salt – to taste
Jaggery – 1 ½ teaspoons
Water – ⅓ cup
Maize flour (Makki ka atta) – 1 tablespoon
For tempering:
Ghee – 1 tablespoon
Ginger – 1 teaspoon, chopped
Cumin seeds – 1 teaspoon
Dried red chili – 1
Onion – ⅓ cup, chopped
White Butter (makhan) – for garnishing
How to make sarson ka saag (Step by Step Recipe with Photos):
1) First we are going to prep the greens. Take sarson and spinach leaves.
2) Remove and discard the hard stems of the mustard greens and keep only leaves. Do the same for spinach as well. NOTE: I have removed the stems and then weight the leaves to 500 grams of sarson and 250 grams of spinach.
3) Wash them very well to remove the dirt. The best way to wash greens – dump both the leaves in a large bowl full of cold water. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, all the dirt will settle down at the bottom. after 15 minutes, remove the leaves from top without disturbing the water too much. Discard the dirty water and again soak them in cold water and repeat the process. I do the same process at least 3 times.
4) put the washed leaves in colander and drain out the excess water.
5) Chop the leaves roughly. Also chop remaining ingredients needed. Take chopped mustard leaves, spinach leaves, ginger, garlic and green chilies in a pressure cooker. Also add jaggery and water.
6) Cover cooker with lid, put the weight on. Turn the heat on medium and let it cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure go down by itself then open the lid.
7) Now add makki ka atta.
8) Mix well and turn the heat back on medium-low.
9) Now using potato masher, start mashing the mixture. Keep mashing and keep cooking for about 10-15 minutes. If it is too thick then you can add splash of water.
10) It should look like coarse paste.
11) Mashing it by hand takes some effort. But I like coarse texture of saag, so I do it this way. You can use food processor or mixer and make smooth puree as well.
12) Now heat ghee in a pan on another stove on medium heat. Once hot add chopped ginger. Saure for 30 seconds.
13) Then add cumin seeds. let them sizzle a bit.
14) Now add dried red chili and cook for 20-30 seconds, you will notice chili will get dark color.
15) Now add chopped onions and sprinkle little salt. Be careful, we have already added salt in saag.
16) Cook till onions get soft and light pink or translucent in color.
17) Add to the prepared saag.
18) Mix well and it is ready to serve.
Remove it to a serving bowl, add dollop of butter on top. Adding butter is optional though.
Additional Info:
Taste: medium spicy, creamy
Shelf life: You can make big batch, let it cool down to room temperature. Then store in airtight container in refrigerator for 4-5 days. You can freeze it in portions for months.
Serving suggestions: During the winter months, usually sarson ka saag is served with makki ki roti. Also few sliced onions and salted lassi are served on side. You can serve saag with paratha or roti as well.
Tips:
The texture of the sarson ka saag is personal preference. I like chunky and coarse, so I have mashed it by hand. If you like smooth then you use blender to make puree.
Instead of cooking in pressure cooker, you can cook the greens in pan as well. It will take about 20 minutes in a pan with some water.
If using bathua, the quantity of it should be same as spinach. I have not added here since it is not available where I live. But traditionally bathua is used.
Sarson ka saag recipe (Printable):
Sarson ka saag recipe
Print
Prep time
1 hour
Cook time
30 mins
Total time
1 hour 30 mins
Sarson ka saag recipe - a popular punjabi dish made with mustard greens and spinach leaves during winter season.
Author: Kanan
Category: Main course - Curry
Cuisine: Punjabi, North Indian
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients
For curry:
Mustard leaves (Sarson) - 500 grams or 6 cups of chopped leaves loosely packed
Spinach (Palak) - 250 grams or 3 cups of chopped leaves loosely packed
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Garlic - 2 cloves
Green chilies - 2-3
Salt - to taste
Jaggery - 1 ½ teaspoons
Water - 1/3 cup
Maize flour (Makki ka atta) - 1 tablespoon
For tempering:
Ghee - 1 tablespoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, chopped
Cumin seeds - 1 teaspoon
Dried red chili - 1
Onion - 1/3 cup, chopped
White Butter (makhan) - for garnishing
Instructions
First we are going to prep the greens. Take sarson and spinach leaves.
Remove and discard the hard stems of the mustard greens and keep only leaves. Do the same for spinach as well. NOTE: I have removed the stems and then weight the leaves to 500 grams of sarson and 250 grams of spinach.
Wash them very well to remove the dirt. The best way to do so - dump both the leaves in a large bowl full of cold water. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes, all the dirt will settle down at the bottom. after 15 minutes, remove the leaves from top without disturbing the water too much. Discard the dirty water and again soak them in cold water and repeat the process. I do the same process at least 3 times.
put the washed leaves in colander and drain out the excess water.
Chop the leaves roughly. Also chop remaining ingredients needed.
Take chopped mustard leaves, spinach leaves, ginger, garlic and green chilies in a pressure cooker. Also add jaggery and water.
Cover cooker with lid, put the weight on. Turn the heat on medium and let it cook for 2 whistles. Let the pressure go down by itself then open the lid.
Now add makki ka atta.
Mix well and turn the heat back on medium-low.
Now using potato masher, start mashing the mixture. Keep mashing and keep cooking for about 10-15 minutes. If it is too thick then you can add splash of water.
It should look like coarse paste.
Mashing it by hand takes some effort. But I like coarse texture of saag, so I do it this way. You can use food processor or mixer and make smooth puree as well.
Now heat ghee in a pan on another stove on medium heat. Once hot add chopped ginger. Saure for 30 seconds.
Then add cumin seeds. let them sizzle a bit.
Now add dried red chili and cook for 20-30 seconds, you will notice chili will get dark color.
Now add chopped onions and sprinkle little salt. Be careful, we have already added salt in saag.
Cook till onions get soft and light pink or translucent in color.
Add to the prepared saag.
Mix well and it is ready to serve.
Remove it to a serving bowl, add dollop of butter on top. Adding butter is optional though.
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