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Sarson Ka Saag Recipe (Stove Top & Instant pot)

Tanvi Srivastava
Sarson Ka saag is a seasonal punjabi recipe prepared using mustard greens(sarson) and fresh spinach. Served with makki roti & gud.
5 from 6 votes
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Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Servings 4
Calories 285 kcal

Ingredients
  

For Sarson Ka Saag

  • 400 g Mustard Greens
  • 300 g Spinach Greens
  • 80 g turnip roughly chopped, 1 medium
  • 50 g mooli daikon, roughly chopped
  • 1.5 tablespoon ginger roughly chopped
  • 4 scallion(spring onion) optional, green & white stalks roughly chopped
  • 1.5 tablespoon ghee optional
  • 1 teaspoon salt adjust to taste
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2 pinch hing (asafoetida)
  • 2 cup water

For Tempering

  • ¼ cup makki atta (maize flour), adjust quantity depending on thickness
  • 5-6 tablespoon Mustard Oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 2-3 dried red chilies
  • 2 cup onion chopped
  • 2 tablespoon ginger chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves chopped
  • 3-4 indian green chilies roughly chopped, adjust to taste
  • 1 large tomato chopped, optional
  • 2-3 tablespoon butter to finish, adjust to taste

Instructions
 

Cook the Saag

  • Wash the greens by soaking them in a large pot of water for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the water. Keep repeating until no dirt is visible and water runs clean. Drain, air dry for half an hour or so and store them in an air tight container in the fridge until ready to use.
  • Pluck the mustard leaves from the stems. Peel the skin of stems and roughly chop them discarding very tough ones. Roughly chop the mustard and spinach leaves.
  • Add the greens to the pot or dutch oven (5 qt or larger) along with all the ingredients listed under "For Sarson Ka Saag". Cover the pot with a lid.
    Tip - If you like a kick to your saag, you could add few green chillies right now. I leave them out.
  • Set the pot on stove and let cook for 25-35 minutes on low medium heat until the greens are cooked through. Alternatively, you can pressure cook the greens for 7-8 minutes and 3-4 whistles.
  • In a small pan, dry roast the makki atta lightly.
  • Using an immersion blender, blend the cooked greens to desired consistency.
    Add the roasted makki ka atta to the saag. Mix. You will see that the saag will thicken. Add water to adjust to desired consistency.
  • Let the saag cook on low heat for 8-10 minutes to cook down the makki atta we added. Make the tempering while the saag simmers.

Tempering the Saag

  • In a wide pan, warm up the mustard oil till lightly smoky.
  • Temper with cumin, dried & green chilies. Add the chopped onions next and fry them over medium heat until nicely browned.
  • Add the ginger, garlic and green chilies next and saute for a minute or so.
  • Add the tomatoes next and cook until they soften. Dont cook too much. The tempering needs to be chunky.
  • Add the tempering to the cooked saag. Taste and adjust the salt.
  • Finish with butter. Serve.

Instant Pot Sarson Saag (For reference I use a 6 qt Instant pot)

  • Add the greens to the pot along with all the ingredients listed under "For Sarson Ka Saag". Add 1.5 cup water.
  • Close the instant pot 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.
  • 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.
  • 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. 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.
  • Meanwhile, in a skillet make the saag tadka as outlined above. Mix in the tadka and butter to the saag and combine well. You could cook for a few minutes for flavors to meld together.

Notes

  • You can use 1 cup broccoli florets while boiling saag if you wish. Taste great.
  • Keep the saag on a thicker side to begin with.
  • When you blend, dont puree to smooth. Sarson saag tastes good when it has a coarse texture not overly smooth. 
  • You may adjust the quantity of maize flour if depending on the thickness of saag you prefer.
  • Don't chop the onions, tomato etc very fine for tempering .
  • 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.
  • Dont skimp on oil or butter when making sarson saag.
  • Use vegan butter in place of ghee as need to make it suitable for plant based diet.

Nutrition

Calories: 285kcalCarbohydrates: 17gProtein: 5gFat: 24gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 14mgSodium: 629mgPotassium: 703mgFiber: 6gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 3414IUVitamin C: 89mgCalcium: 162mgIron: 3mg
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