Sarson ka saag or delicious mustard greens

oh yes, I am in the mood to talk about some seasonal cooking and eating this morning. But since I am too lazy to go through books to collect referance of any sort, as I firmly believe publications talking about this all across the world has lit up your mind with enough knowledge on the sudject. I will stick to what I am eating this season and share the simple rceipe with all of you. 

Authentic, is what you want to ask about my sarson ka saag recipe?? let me put it this way: the well experienced hands and tastebuds of Punjabi's had no role to play in cooking this in my kitchen. Also the greens were procured from local market as well as the cornmeal. So even though I tried my best to emulate what and how they cook, let's call it my kitchen story and not gurantee any sort of authenticity. Well, you may unfollow if heartbroken, but that's the truth.

Just like how we Bengalis have shared our Macch-er jhol with the country and the world, so have the generous people of Punjab. Seldom have I found seasonal eating this decadent, mouthwatering, not to emntion the goodness quotient. Even if you are not a fan of the pungency of mustard  greens and is averse to such tedious work, try it once for sure. 

Now the recipe:

1. Let's start with the laborious task first: separate leaves and stems of the following greens- 1kg mustard greens ( roughly 4 bunch) + 200gm spinach ( 3/4th bunch) + 100gm bathua + 100gm radish greens. Wash them thoroughly under running water till you are sure of their cleanliness.

2. Rough chop or tear them. Turn on the hob. Place them in a big pan with about 4 tbsp water and allow them to cook down on medium low flame. It should take about 7-8 minutes.You will tons of watr coming out of them.

3. Time to chop more: 1.5no medium onions, chopped as finely as possible + 8 fat cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped finely + 1.5" ginger scraped and chopped finely + 4 green chillies finely chopped + half  a carrot, peeled and cut into small cubes + baby radish, cleaned throughly and sliced in half lengthwise about 4-5pc.

4. Now that the leaves have cooked down and given out a lot of water, remove from flame and allow them to cool. 

5. Strain out most of the water and keep aside. Once it cools, blitz it either to a smooth puree or a rough paste, breaking down each membrane. I used my stick blender, you can choose any devise that's easy available.

6. Heat 3 tbsp ghee + 1tbsp mustard oil in a pan and add 2 dry red chillies, broken. Once they start changing colours, add in the chopped onions.

7. As the onions become translucent, add in the other aromatics: ginger, garlic and chillies.

8. Once the raw smell disappears, time to pour in the blitzed green sludge and toss or mix well. Add in salt to taste at this stage. Once it begins to get dry, add in a bit of the stored water, cover the pan, and cook for about 8-10 mins on medium low flame.

9. Now that it's almost done, sprinkle in about 2tbsp of cornmeal or makai ka atta and give a good mix. Add in 1tbsp of ghee and  take it off the hob.

10. The final stage: heat 1tbsp of white butter & tad bit oil in a small pan and add in 0.5tsp red chilli powder. Once the butter begins to froth and fume and turns red, turn the contenta of the pan on top of the cooked greens. Done. ( This stage I have taen from Chef Kunal Kapoor),

11. It's advisable and best paired with corn bread or flatbread made with cornmeal, but any normal chapati or roti would de good. In case you are in mood for decadence, slather some white butter on top of your piping hot chapati. 

I know this will turn out to be finger licking good. I agree the presence of calories, but hey, it's winters and take a walk now and then to burn it out. Oh yes, ghee is a superfood as specified by renowned dietcians, so you are safe for sure. This dish stays good in refrigeration for long owing to the presnece of so much ghee and butter.  Also dear readers, please take this as a guideline and you can add in anything of your choice to this, in terms of veggies. I ahve been told, many households in Punjab add in some root vegetables as well to ensure more flavor. Also go as low or high as you wish to on the chilli quotient.

In my house it finishes the same day it's made, not only do I love to feast on it, I also feed it to friends. At the end, it's the traditional food, that was cooked in some village eons back, have stayed on in our life and why not!! I mean food this good for your health and the tastebuds is sure to go down hsitory.

No wonder I am never tired of singing  praises of homecooking. Afterall hearty meals like this can only be cooked and served in a loving home.

Take care peeps.