Despite spring greens being a healthy leafy green vegetable, it is not quite popular in my kitchen. I have found the lack of tenderness of the leaves to be the reason why it is not ideal for me. However as I am trying to cut costs as far as possible and one of the challenges it poses is utilisation of cheaply available nutrients, I thought I should try the spring greens again. This time I was clever in having a nice dish to inspire me and it was sarson ka saag (a dish made with mustard leaves and spinach). I came across the recipe on show me the curry and that gave me some tips like removing the rib of the leaves so the hard fibre in them do not put me off. In order to impart more flavour and make it closer to sarson ka saag I added mustard seed paste and also cooked the dish in mustard oil. I have not tasted sarson ka saag before but I can tell you that this dish came out very well. This has made spring greens a keeper in my shopping list. Here is how I made it...
2 bunches spring green, the centre rib removed and leaves torn up
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 cup tomato puree or 3 finely chopped tomatoes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoon mustard seed paste
1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon chilli powder
1 teaspoon dhania powder
Few pinches of Punjabi garam masala or normal garam masala
2-3 green chillies finely chopped (adjust according to preference)
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder
Cooking oil
Bring together the spring greens and spinach in a saucepan and cook in about half cup water
Cool this and pulse it in food processor. If you prefer puree, then grind accordingly
Heat some oil and add the onions, fry for a couple of minutes and add ginger garlic paste and chillies and cook until onion turns soft
Add the tomato puree (use thick puree) and turmeric powder and cook until they all come together
Add the spring greens and spinach mixture, chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, mustard seed paste and salt. Add about half cup water and cook for about 5 minutes or until desired consistency is achieved.
To garnish, you could sauté chunky chopped onions and tomatoes, this is optional though.
Serve with any Indian bread or rice
Soo healthy and delicious curry..
ReplyDeleteLooks very good!
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