Sarson Ka Saag

Green mustard is simmered and slow cooked with spinach, methi leaves, carrot, radish and ginger. The Saag is then seasoned with fried onion, garlic and tomatoes. The dish is served with unleavened bread of cornmeal or wheat and a dollop of butter.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Sarson or mustard leaves
• 1 bunch of palak (spinach)
• 1 bunch methi (fenugreek)
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1 white radish chopped
• 2 tbsp makki ka atta (corn pounded into flour)
• 1” ginger chopped
• Seasoning:
• 4 tbsp ghee
• 2 big onions finely chopped
• 2 big tomatoes finely chopped
• 4-5 garlic cloves finely chopped

Method:

• Pluck mustard leaves, spinach and fenugreek leaves from off the stalks. Wash them well in running water. Chop finely. Add chopped carrot, radish, ginger and pressure cook it for 45 minutes on a low fire.
• Remove from the fire and pound the saag in the pressure cooker pan until it is well mixed. You can grind it in a mixer grinder to a fine paste. Put it back on a low flame and gradually add makki ka atta stirring constantly until all flour is mixed in the saag.
• For seasoning, heat ghee in a small pan. Add onion and garlic, fry until they are golden brown. Add tomatoes and fry until a thick puree is formed. Add this to saag and mix well.
• Now add dollops of fresh homemade butter and serve with Makki Ki Roti: roti made of pounded corn flour.

Do You Know?

There are certain dishes which are part and parcel of Punjab, India and their very mention conjures up the rich flavor of the state. Mah ki Dal, Sarson Ka Saag and Makkee Ki Roti, meat curry like Rogan Josh and stuffed paraunthas can be found in no other state except Punjab. The food is suitable for those who burn up a lot of calories while working in the fields and tilling their small acres. For the urban folk, however, eating even one dish is enough because life in the cities is so sedentary. The main masala in a Punjabi dish consists of onion, garlic, ginger and many tomatoes fried in pure ghee.