Saag
Saag is the ultimate Northern Indian comfort food. Stewed greens fragrant with garlic, ginger, chillies, onion and nutty ghee. Creamy and velvety Saag is traditionally served in the fall and winter months, and perfect to store in the freezer for batching up cooking!
Recipe by Chef Rick Matharu
Location: Mississauga, ON
Servings: 8 - 10 people
Preparation time: 120 minutes
Chef Rick Matharu
Ingredients
- 2 bunch rapini, thoroughly washed (sub with extra broccoli or spinach if needed)
- 1 bunch spinach, thoroughly washed
- 1 bunch broccoli, thoroughly washed
- 1 large whole head garlic, half minced and half peeled whole cloves
- 2 tablespoons of minced ginger (about 3” stem minced)
- 2 green chilli, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoon ghee, coconut oil or butter
- ½ cup corn flour or cornmeal
- 6 cups boiling water
- ½ tablespoon salt
- 1 tsp red chilli flakes, optional
Preparation
Trim the ends of your greens by cutting off 1” of the stalks and then thoroughly washing up to 4 times to clean any sand or dirt. Remove any wilted, yellowed, or dead leaves out of your greens and roughly chop down. Peel or remove the tough skin from the broccoli stalks’ tough outer stem and chop down roughly into 1” pieces.
In a separate pot or kettle, bring 6 cups of water to boil to have on hand for the cooking process.
In a large pot on medium-high heat, add in 3 cups of the boiling water, rapini, spinach, broccoli, green chillies, the whole cloves of garlic, half of the minced ginger (about 1 tablespoon), and salt. Stir to combine.
Pour boiling water on top of the greens (Saag) until the surface of the Saag is covered. Make sure the Saag is simmering, cover, and cook down for 60-90 minutes. Stir every 15-20 minutes and add up to 2 cups of boiling water as needed to render the greens down until soft. You should be able to easily smush the garlic cloves and broccoli stalks. This step can be accomplished easily with a KitchenAid® Cooktop, and it is sure to inspire your next culinary endeavor.
In a small bowl, whisk together ½ cup of corn flour with 1 cup of hot water to make a paste. With a wooden spoon vigorously and quickly beat in your corn flour paste to create a creamy consistency.
Blend the vegetables (Saag) with an immersion blender until all lumps have been removed. In a large saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of ghee or substitute on medium-high heat, adding in 1 tablespoon of minced garlic and allowing it to golden before cooking the onions and then the ginger into the infused oil(Tadka). You can add red chilli flakes at this point for added heat (optional)! An easy way to blend saag is with a KitchenAid® Hand Blender. Explore their various options.
Once the edges of the onions begin to turn golden brown, ladle in the Saag to the Tadka. Cover and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes.
Serve it up with parontas, corn flour rotis or another type of flatbread, julienne ginger, a few sliced green chillies, with lots of Makhan or ghee on top for a real Punjabi favourite!
Nutrition Facts
Per serving (100 g)
Calories: 80
- Fat: 4 g (Saturated: 3 g)
- Carbohydrates: 10 g
- Fibre: 2 g
- Sugars: 2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
- Sodium: 340 mg
- Potassium: 300 mg
- Calcium: 50 mg
- Iron 1.5 mg
