Being from Punjab, I totally love saag. It may not sound or look appetizing but take my word the taste will pleasantly surprise you. It is the one dish that defines winter cooking in a Punjabi Kitchen. As a child I never liked saag, not many kids like it when they are young (because they eat with their eyes). Once I was at the house of my mother’s friend and she offered me saag. To make a good impression and not wanting to insult her though, I hesitantly tried and to my surprise I really enjoyed the saag with a tadka (tempering) of ginger and garlic with lots of butter.

Saag is generic name for cooked greens, unless specified as sarson ka saag (mustard greens), palak ka saag ( spinach greens). You will be surprised no restaurant here has saag on their menu, if they do, chances are they are fooling the public with palak ka saag (spinach greens only). Although, it can be made with any dark leafy green traditionally, it is made with a mix of sarson (mustard), methi (fenugreek), choulai (amaranth) and a milder tasting spinach is only added to reduce the bitterness of other greens. It is often prepared in huge quantity, partly because it keeps well in the fridge for a week and tastes better the next day and largely because it is a bit laborious work to clean and chop all the greens.

Mustard stems have tough skin that need to be peeled, which along with other greens are washed thoroughly and chopped fine. Once this is done they are gently simmered in a pot until soft. Close to the end of cooking, saag is pressed with a madhani {( butter churner or wooden hand blender)picture below} and while doing that maize flour is added to give a thick silky texture. Saag is never made smooth but the coarse texture never appealed me, so I prefer using handy gadgets like food processor or immersion blender to do the job of madhani. And also, I use pressure cooker to cook saag which reduces the cooking time without ruining its nutritional value.

Since mustard greens are not available here (Richmond BC), I make saag with what ever bitter greens I find. There is no single recipe for making saag. Today I am preparing saag with Gai lan, it is from the plant family of broccoli and Kale. Its high in beta carotene and contains folate, Vitamin E, iron and calcium. Similar to mustard its thick stems are peeled to remove tough outer layer, it has slightly bitter flavor which is subdued by the presence of mild tasting spinach. A tempering of sauteed ginger, garlic and onion (optional) is added at the end to a small portion of saag that has to be served. The remainder can be frozen or stored in fridge for up to a week and all you need to refresh is to reheat with a tadka. The golden hue makki ki roti is a perfect match to the deep green saag with some butter on top!

Enjoy a punjabi meal!

GAI LAN SAAG

Serves: 6

You will need a 3 liter ( bigger is good) pressure cooker to make this dish. If you don’t have a pressure cooker you can cook using a regular pot, ensure that you add sufficient water to cook the greens meltingly tender for about 2 -3 hours.

Ingredients:

1 packet (1 kg) gai lan

2 bunch ( 500 g cleaned) spinach

1/4 cup maize (yellow corn) flour

1/4 cup hot water

5-7 hot green chilli

1/2″ piece ginger

1/4 cup water to cook greens

Tadka/ Tempering:

4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1″ piece of ginger, finely chopped

2 tbsp chopped onion (optional)

2 tbsp butter/1 tbsp oil or 3 tbsp desi ghee

To serve:

maize chapatti

butter

raw or pickled ginger

radish salad

Method: