Sarson ka Saag (Mustard Greens)

A big old fashioned drum roll please!!!! I'm introducing my New Veggie #60. When I started on this quest almost a year ago, I never thought I'd have tried 60 previously untried or less-tried vegetables by the end of the year. The honor of being #60 goes to Mustard Greens. Growing up in India, we ate a lot of mustard greens during the winter months which is when it is in season. The original recipe, Sarson ka Saag, uses clarified butter (ghee) in copious amounts and is eaten with fresh corn-bread (Makki ki Roti), which is also made with a lot of ghee. What I wanted to do today was recreate the dish of my childhood without any of the added fat. I decided to eat it with rice, instead of the traditional corn bread. Although, the skillet cornbread recipe in Everyday Happy Herbivore would be great with this dish.  

Punjabi Sarson ka Saag

Prep Time: 20-30 min

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1. 1 bunch of curly mustard greens, washed well, stems removed, and leaves torn
2. 1 small Red Onion
3. 1 tbsp Ginger Garlic Paste
4. 2 tsp Cumin powder
5. 2 tsp Garam Masala
6. 1 tsp Smoked Chipotle pepper
7. Salt to taste
8. Red Pepper Flakes, for garnish

Directions:

Add first 4 ingredients with a quarter cup of water and pressure cook for 10 min under high pressure. Release steam and open. The leaves should be reduced about 10x in volume. Using a stick blender, puree the contents until smooth. Add Garam Masala and Chipotle pepper and simmer on medium heat, with a lid on partway, until most of the water has evaporated (be careful of the splatter, as it will be super hot!). Mine took about 10 min to get to the right consistency. Still pretty wet, but without any runny water. Add salt to taste. It is best to wait until the end to add salt as it is quite easy to overdo the salt (the volume goes down tremendously, so it is difficult to estimate how much you need). Serve over rice, and garnish with more chipotle pepper or red pepper flakes. 

My Assessment: The flavors were reminiscent of my childhood. My mom used to garnish with red pepper flakes warmed in butter (often called Tadka in hindi). I didn't miss the butter in the dish at all. Give it a try! It was worth it!

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 51
Total Fat 0.8 g; Cholesterol 0 g; Carbohydrates 8.6 g; Fiber 2.0 g; Sugars 2.5 g; Protein 2.7 g