Four leafy greens in a single meal and the food vanishing fast- what glee! Sarson ka saag makes for three of the greens and I served it with Missa Methi Parantha today as I was out of cornmeal and couldn’t make the Saag’s traditional partner Makke ki Roti. Winter brings food joy in forms to loads of vegetables which aren’t available round the year. Sarson or mustard leaves is one such delight.

And the fun is, make a huge lot and store in the fridge for up to a week. It gets yummier with every passing day as the flavours get richer and deeper.

What you need is

3 cups of sarson/mustard leaves
1 cup of bathua/cheel bhaaji/wild spinach
1 cup of palak/spinach
10 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium onions, chopped fine
2 tsp grated ginger
2 green chillies, chopped fine
5 tomatoes, pureed
3 Tbsp oil
½ tsp heeng/asafetida
1 tsp salt
1 tsp red chilli powder
¾ tsp dhaniya/coriander powder
½ tsp kashmiri red chilli powder
¾ tsp aamchoor/mango powder
½ tsp black pepper powder
¼ tsp cloves/laung, powdered coarse
1 Tbsp makke ka aata/cornmeal (can use besan/gram flour if cornmeal not available)
2 Tbsp home- made butter (use store bought if not available)
1 Tbsp desi ghee/clarified butter
1 tsp lime juice

Wash, chop and blanch the greens.

Cool and grind coarse.
Heat the oil and add asafoetida.
Add garlic, ginger and green chillies and sauté for a minute.
Add the onions and cook stirring till browned.

Add the cornmeal/gram flour and cook for a minute.


Add the tomato puree and the dry masalas (salt, red chilli powder and coriander powder)

Lower the heat and cook till the oil separates.
Add the ground green vegetables and 2 tbsp of butter.

Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, adding water if required.
Add the kashmiri red chilli powder,aamchoor, black pepper, powdered cloves and ghee and cook for about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt and aamchoor if required.

Take off the heat and add the lime juice.
Serve piping hot topped with a dollop of butter.


Serve with makke ki roti, missi roti or as I did with methi ke misse paranthe! Find the recipe for the methi paranthe here 🙂

Made saag again with makka ki roti, which I finally learned to make perfectly from my help. Sharing soon tips and tricks to make perfectly puffed makka ki roti!

 

We enjoyed some with saag and one last crisp one with makkhan (home made white butter ) and a piece of crumbled gud (jaggery) to end the meal. Heaven!