Sarson ka saag recipe - a popular dish from Punjab made from mustard greens during the winter season and served with makki ki roti. Sarson ka saag is called ‘Sarson da saag’ in Punjabi language.
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. Nowadays in busy lifestyle, no one wants to spend that much time in kitchen, right?
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 coarse paste is made 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.
Check out other punjabi recipes
Chole bhature // Rajma chawal // Baingan bharta // Butter paneer
How to make sarson ka saag recipe (Step by Step 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 sarson ka saag to a serving bowl, add dollop of butter on top. Adding butter is optional though.
Serving suggestion: 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
Ingredients
For sarson ka saag:
- 500 grams or 6 cups Mustard leaves (Sarson) chopped, loosely packed
- 250 grams or 3 cups Spinach (Palak) chopped, loosely packed
- 1 inch Ginger
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 2-3 Green chilies
- Salt to taste
- 1 ½ teaspoons Jaggery (Gur)
- ⅓ cup Water
- 1 tablespoon Maize flour (Makki ka atta)
For tempering:
- 1 tablespoon Ghee (clarified butter)
- 1 teaspoon Ginger chopped
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 1 Dried red chilies
- ⅓ cup Red onion chopped
- Butter (White butter or makhan), for garnishing
Instructions
Preparation:
- 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.
- 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.
Making sarson ka saag recipe:
- 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.
Making tempering:
- 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.
- 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
Yvonne
Hi to you ...thank you for sharing the lovely recipe. I first tasted this dish in Delhi and I loved it please can you suggest a different type of leaf that I can use eg spinach because it's difficult to obtain this sarson
Kanan
The closest substitution for mustard leaves (sarso) is broccoli rabe leaves and kale.
Michelle
Looks tasty! Could you provide approximate times for the instant pot?
Kanan
for instant pot, 3-4 minutes on manual is enough
lil
hi, my pressure cooker does not whistle, it is a new pressure cooker, how long is two whistles or three whistles please
Kanan
for about 10-12 minutes
nirav
wow looks amazing. I will try it in weekend.
thanks for the recipe.
Kanan
Sure, hope you enjoy