Sarson ka Saag Recipe (Authentic Punjabi Style)

sarson ka saag in a white bowl on a rattan table with a white plate of makki ki roti on the side..

4.95 from 78 votes

Sarson ka Saag Recipe (Authentic Punjabi Style)

Sarson Ka Saag (Sarson da Saag) is a traditional Punjabi dish made with mustard greens, spinach, bathua and other leafy greens. It is especially popular during the North Indian winter and is traditionally served with Makki ki Roti.

Prep Time2

Cook Time2

Total Time4

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: North Indian, Punjabi

Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Servings:

Calories: 59kcal

Author: Dassana Amit

Ingredients

For Sarson ka Saag

1 bunch mustard greens (sarson)
½ bunch bathua leaves (chenopodium/goosefoot/melde)
½ bunch spinach leaves (palak)
1 cup chopped radish leaves – use tender leaves, (mooli ke patte)
3 to 4 inches white radish root
1 cup fenugreek leaves – chopped
1 cup or 2 medium-sized onion – chopped
1½ cup or 3 medium-sized tomato – chopped
2 inches ginger – chopped
2 green chilies – chopped
7 to 8 garlic – medium sized, chopped
½ teaspoon red chili powder
2 to 3 pinches or ⅛ teaspoon pinches asafoetida powder (hing)
2 to 3 cups water or add as required
2 tablespoon maize flour or fine cornmeal
salt as required

Tempering Saag For 3 Servings

⅓ cup or 1 small to medium-sized onions – finely chopped
1 to 2 tablespoons oil or ghee
2 cups cooked saag or as required

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Making Sarson ka Saag

Firstly clean and chop all the greens. Then wash or rinse the greens very well in running water.
In a 5 litre stovetop pressure cooker or pan add all the ingredients listed under "for sarson ka saag" except for maize flour.
Cover the pressure cook and cook for 6 to 7 minutes or more on medium-high heat.
If cooking in a pan, then cover and let the greens cook till tender and softened. Do check occasionally.
Pour the greens along with the stock and maize flour in a blender. Blend till smooth.
In another deep pan or in the same cooker, pour the pureed greens.
Simmer for a good 25 to 30 minutes on a low heat stirring at intervals.

Tempering Sarson da Saag

In another small pan, heat oil. Use any neutral oil. You can also make the tempering with ghee if you prefer.
Add the chopped onions and saute them till light brown on medium-low heat.
Add the prepared saag. Stir and simmer for a couple of minutes.
Stir ocaasionally when the saag is simmering.

Serving Suggestions

Serve sarson ka saag hot with a side of some chopped onions, whole green chilies or mango pickle. Top the saag with a dollop of white butter and serve with Makki di Roti. Also serve a few jaggery cubes by the side.
For a vegan saag, omit adding white butter or use vegan butter.

Storage

Store the pureed and simmered saag in an airtight container for 4 to 5 days in the refrigerator. You can also freeze it for a month.
When ready to serve, remove the quantity you need from the refrigerator and temper it with the required amout of oil and onions.

Notes

Greens: Feel free to skip fenugreek leaves and bathua leaves and add in some more spinach. You can also add red radish or turnips, if you do not get white radish. For the radish leaves, use tender leaves and not stringy ones.
Bitter mustard greens: If in case your mustard greens are bitter, I recommend that you reduce the quantity that you use and increase the quantity of spinach proportionally. Alternatively, you can also get rid of the cooking water. I don’t prefer to do this because you lose out on some of the nutrients, but it should decrease the amount of bitterness in the saag.
Maize flour: Swap the maize flour with gram flour (besan), rice flour or chickpea flour.
Gluten-free version: Omit asafoetida to make the saag gluten-free.
Scaling the recipe: This recipe can be easily halved, doubled or tripled. Keep the same ratio of greens when scaling.
Note: The approximate nutrition info is for the saag only without the sautéing of the onions in oil.

Nutrition