Sarson Ka saag is a north indian dish prepared using leafy greens like fresh mustard and spinach. This traditional punjabi saag makes for one of the most classic winter meal when served with makki ki roti (maize flour flatbread) gur/gud (jaggery),white butter and onions.

Also known as sarson da saag, I like to slow cook my saag. You can cook the saag in instant pot or pressure cooker if you wish. I am including the instructions.

Seasonal vegetarian curries during winter time feature the abundance of leafy greens that flood the markets in north india. Sarson saag is among popular dishes during cold months.

I love to make a large batch of sarson ka saag as part of my meal prep. It stays well for 4-5 days in the fridge and when served with indian flatbreads makes for a perfect meal throughout the week.

What is Sarson ka Saag

Sarson = Mustard. Saag translates to greens. Also known as Punjabi sarson da saag, it is a rustic dish from north india made by cooking together a mix of green leafy vegetables along with few root vegetables such as turnip & mooli (daikon).

The mashed or pureed greens are tempered in an authentic punjabi way in pure mustard oil, browned onion, ginger, garlic, tomatoes etc . A well cooked saag is velvety and very addictive. It is considered comfort food in northern india during cold months.

Making sarson is not hard though a bit time consuming in terms of washing and preparing the greens, cooking them down and then tempering. Simply put, if you want a flavorful saag, give it time.

About My Recipe

A few notes about my sarson saag recipe :-

My saag recipe is very simple. I learnt to make it from our cook during our stay in Punjab for a few years. Among the many things he said, the highlight was that the saag should taste of greens and not of spices.

1. Hence, I do not use any powdered spices in my recipe. The saag tastes fresh when it isn't heavily spiced.
2. I slow cook the greens and vegetables. It makes a LOT of difference in the taste of saag. The best part is that you don't really have to baby sit the greens while they cook. Just check on them here and there.
3. True blue sarson saag lovers are very divided on this - however, I do use little bit of tomato in my recipe. I feel it adds a nice tang and tastes great, however, you may skip it if you wish.

Ingredients

Here are the ingredients you will need. The picture on the left shows everything that you will boil together. The picture on right is the tempering ingredients.

You will need :-

1. Mustard Greens Or Rapini Greens
2. Fresh Spinach bunch - Frozen spinach is fine too.
3. Daikon (or mooli)
4. Turnip (Shalgam)
5. Bathua leaves (If you are lucky to find do use, else skip)

Notes :

In addition to the above greens, you can also add kale, turnip greens or radish greens or collard greens to the greens mix if you wish. Keep in mind that the taste & texture of saag will vary depending on the kind of the greens

Using mooli is optional. Taste the daikon or mooli that you bought before adding. If mooli is smelly and pungent, the taste of saag won't be good.

Selection of Greens

Since sarson or mustard greens are the main ingredient of this recipe,the quality of mustard is very important. My most important tip would be to taste the mustard greens when buying. Tear a small portion from a few mustard leaves in the bunch bunch and taste it.

Mustard greens are naturally pleasantly bitter sweet. However, the bitterness should be mild and not leave your mouth bittery. Sometimes the bunch is just not right and bitter mustard will lead to bitter saag. Additionally, choose the greens that look fresh, do not have yellow leaves or spots or holes in them.

Buying Sarson (Fresh Mustard Greens) in American Stores

Here are a few options:-

1. Go for curly leaf mustard in the greens aisle of superstores. I buy from Smiths, Whole foods or Sprouts. It looks very different from how sarson leaves look back in India but it tastes very close and does the job! It resembles kale, however the color is light green. When in season, the stems are very juicy and fleshy (which is great).
2. Rapini greens. You will see small broccoli like flowers at the end of its stems and its available again in the greens section.
3. Trader Joes has a seasonal item named "Southen Greens" suitable for cooking. It is a mix of mustard greens, spinach, turnip greens and collard greens. The greens are roughly chopped and pre washed. I love using it many times to make saag. You may increase the spinach quantity slightly when using this if you like a sweeter saag.

Proportion of Greens

For the authentic taste of sarson saag, the quantity of mustard leaves should be more than other kinds of greens or vegetables you use.

Spinach and other vegetables tone down the pungency of the mustard greens as well as add a smooth texture to saag. Plus the nutritious value of saag goes up when we use a mix of vegetables.

How to cook Sarson Ka Saag

The beauty of saag is in slow cooking.

The greens cook slowly in their own juices, the stems soften and the mellow flavors of the leaves combines with spices and ginger.

Prepare The Greens & Vegetables

Sort, Wash & Roughly Chop

Making saag is super easy though picking and preparing the greens is what takes lot of time and effort.

One of the ways I ease my workflow is to wash and dry the greens a few hours or a day ahead. Pluck the leaves from the stems of mustard if the stems feel too fibrous. Peel the skin of stems and roughly chop them discarding very tough ones.You can use stems of spinach leaves if they aren't very fibrous.

Wash & Rinse 6-8 times to remove every speck of dirt. I usually fill a very large pot with super cold water and let soak for few minutes and rinse. I repeat it at least 6-7 times to make sure that the saag is clean.

Tip- If you are prepping them a day ahead- air dry for half an hour or so and store them covered in an air tight container the fridge until ready to use.

Cook The Saag Greens on Stove Top

Add the greens to a large pot or dutch oven (5qt or larger). Add daikon, ginger, turnip, garlic, salt and cumin. Cover and cook the saag until everything is mushy. It takes about 25-35 minutes.

Tip - If you like a kick to your saag, you could add few green chillies right now. I leave them out.

Traditionally, the saag is mashed using a long large wooden whisk or paddle. This process is called "ghotana". However I use my food processor or immersion blender and process the greens into a coarse paste.

Tadka (Tempering The Saag)

Dry roast the makki atta (corn flour) lightly. Adding makki atta helps thicken the saag and also imparts a unique velvety consistency to the cooked saag. Ofcourse it tastes great as well.

For the tempering you will need :-

1. Mustard Oil
2. Chopped Onion
3. Chopped Ginger & Garlic
4. Green Chillies
5. Tomatoes (optional)
6. Cumin Seeds
7. Butter, to finish (or vegan butter)

Tempering is where the real taste of the saag lies. It is the final touch and if you really put effort in making the tempering, the saag will taste hearty and delicious. Make it with a generous amount of mustard oil and onions, ginger, green chilies and tomatoes.

Note - Many people don't add tomato in the saag tempering. Feel free to skip it.

1. In a wide pan, warm up the mustard oil till lightly smoky. 
2. Temper with cumin, dried & green chilies. Add the chopped onions next and fry them over medium heat until nicely browned. 

3. Add the ginger, garlic and green chilies next and saute for a minute or so. 
4. Add the tomatoes next and cook until they soften. Dont cook too much. The tempering needs to be chunky. 
5. Add the tempering to the cooked saag. Taste and adjust the salt. 
6. Finish with butter. Serve.

Instant Pot Sarson Saag

On busy days, you could cook the saag in instant pot or pressure cooker. For reference I use a 6 qt Instant pot. While the saag is pressure cooking, make the tadka in a skillet. Mash the cooked saag and combine the two.

1. Add the mustard greens, spinach, ginger, garlic, scallions, salt, cumin and hing. Add 1.5 cup water.
2. Close the lid. Press pressure cook and set the timer to 11 minutes. Let the saag cook on high pressure for 11 minutes in sealed position. Let pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then release the pressure by sliding the seal valve to vent position.
3. Using an immersion blender, blend the saag. If you dont have immersion blender, transfer the contents to a food processor or blender and grind the saag. I dont grind the saag too fine.

4. Once blended, sprinkle the makki atta on saag and mix well making sure that no lumps are formed. At this point, add some water if needed to adjust the consistency of saag. Press saute button and set timer to 8 minutes on low.
5. Let the saag simmer on saute mode with intermittend stirring. We want to cook the makki atta that we added. The saag bubbles a lot during this time so I usually cover it.
6. Meanwhile, in a skillet make the saag tadka as outlined above.
7. Mix in the tadka and butter to the saag and combine well. You could cook for a few minutes for flavors to meld together.

Serving Sarson ka Saag

Sarson Ka Saag is traditionally served with makki di roti (unleavened maize flour flatbread).

However I love it with regular roti, paratha or oats roti too.

Other things that make saag delicious are sliced onions, butter, winter achar, jaggery and radishes. This meal celebrates winter and the produce. It is warming and delicious.

Some Tips

1. You can use 1 cup broccoli florets while boiling saag if you wish. Tastes great.
2. Keep the saag on a thicker side to begin with.
3. When you blend, dont puree to smooth. Sarson saag tastes good when it has a coarse texture and is not overly smooth. 
4. You may adjust the quantity of maize flour if depending on the thickness of saag you prefer. If maize flour isnt available, use gram flour or chickpea flour.
5. Don't chop the onions, tomato etc very fine for tempering .
6. Cook the onions to golden brown on low medium heat. They will be sweetish and nicely browned that way. If you rush, they wont get time to develop that caramelized taste.
7. Dont skimp on oil or butter when making sarson saag.
8. Use vegan butter in place of ghee as need to make it suitable for plant based diet.