Sarson ka Saag
Dec 04, 2018, Updated Sep 02, 2022
Sarson ka Saag is a winter staple in Northern India. Spiced greens are pureed and then served with makki roti (flatbread made with maize flour) and dollop of butter. It makes a wonderful vegetarian nutritious meal!
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Sarson Ka Saag aka spicy mustard greens is a winter staple in Northern India. It’s usually served with makki roti (a flatbread made with maize flour), a dollop of butter and makes a nutritious meal!
If there’s one thing that I really like about Indian cooking, it’s how much we cook using seasonal ingredients. I think that is so important!
One should always cook and eat seasonal because the taste of these ingredients when they are in season is so much better than when they are not season. Like the sweet berries, they taste amazing in summers but not much during winters. Isn’t it?
In India, during winters there are a lot of seasonal dishes like gajar halwa, methi paratha, peanut chikki and this Sarson ka Saag!
This time of the year, the market is full of leafy greens like spinach, sarson (mustard greens), bathua (chenopodium), methi (fenugeek) etc. Since these leafy greens are in abundance, there are used in number of recipes and one of my absolute favorites is Punjabi Saron ka Saag!
As soon as December would arrive, I would be after my mom to make sarson ka saag and makki is roti. The hot saag and rotis topped with dollop of butter and served with jaggery on the side used to be such a special meal.
What Is Sarson ka Saag
Saron ka saag is a winter delicacy made in North India with fresh mustard greens and other green leafy vegetables.
Sarson = mustard greens, so it’s the key component of this saag.
Saag = creamed spiced greens.
Since mustard greens are slightly bitter on their own, this saag is usually cooked with other greens to balance the bitterness. Greens like spinach, bathua, methi etc. are commonly used.
I usually use 2:1 ratio of mustard greens to other greens. So for this recipe I used 500 grams greens, out of which it was 250 grams mustard greens and the remaining 250 grams were a mix of all other greens (spinach, turnip and collard greens in this case).
Here I do not get bathua and methi all the time, so I used a mixed bag of greens that I got from Trader Joe’s. It had spinach, turnip and collard greens along with mustard greens. It worked really well for this recipe.
Of course, if you find bathua and methi, feel free to use them along with spinach. If you don’t find anything, just mustard greens and spinach would also work.
Sarson ka saag is very lightly spiced, it’s the fresh flavor of the greens that shines through and that’s what make it so delicious!
How To Make Saron ka Saag
Making sarson ka saag is super easy, it’s only the prep work that takes time. In India, whenever we would get these leafy greens, they would be really dirty so cleaning them would take some time.
Once the greens are cleaned, they are pressure cooked along with onion, tomato, garlic, ginger, green chilies and radish until really soft. Once cooked through, you puree the greens.
Some people prefer really smooth saag while others like it to be little coarse. If you want it completely smooth, use a high speed blender. I used my immersion blender and it worked just fine.
The pureed saag is them cooked for several minutes until it thickens.
The final tadka at the end is crucial. I usually use garlic, hing, dried red chilies and onion in my tadka. You can add ingredients as per your taste. And yes, you have to use ghee for the tempering. I cannot imagine eating saag without ghee!
Sarson ka saag tastes even better the next-day, at least that’s what I think!
How To Serve Sarson ka Saag
In all of north India, especially Punjab and Delhi, you would find sarson ka saag served with makki ki roti and fresh white butter.
Makki ki roti is a flatbread made with maize flour, it’s little tricky to make especially if you are not mixing in any wheat flour.
It’s smeared with ghee and enjoyed with the saag, it’s a classic match and in my opinion, should always be eaten together.
You can of course eat saag with roti, naan or rice too.
Can You Freeze Sarson ka Saag
Yes, you may, just don’t do the tadka in that case. Pressure cook the saag, puree it and then let it come to room temperature.
Once it has cooled down to room temperature, store in a freezer bag and freeze.
When you want to eat it, thaw the saag and then do the tadka before serving the saag.
Method
1- Wash and chop the greens and then add them to the pressure cooker. Then add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies.
2- Add tomatoes and white radish.
3- Then add the red chili powder and salt.
4- Add 1.5 cups water and stir.
5- Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles on high heat (using a traditional stove-top pressure cooker) until everything is soft and done.If using the Instant Pot (like I did here), cook on high pressure for 5 mins and then let the pressure release naturally.
Alternatively, you can also cook everything on a stove top for 20-25 minutes until soft.
6- Open the pressure cooker/instant pot and then use an immersion blender to puree the saag. If you don’t have an immersion blender, wait for it cool down a bit and then puree using your regular blender.
7- Blend to a coarse paste. You may blend it to super fine texture using a high speed blender. I prefer it little coarse.
8- Transfer saag to another pot on stove top over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of maize flour to the saag and mix, this helps in thickening the saag.
9- Set heat to low and let the saag simmer for 20 to 25 minutes on low heat. It will thicken as it simmers.
10- For the final tadka, heat a small pan on medium heat. Once the pan is hot add ghee to it and then add hing and chopped garlic cloves. Saute for few seconds and then add the chopped onion and dried red chilies.
11- Cook until the onions and garlic turn light golden brown. Add the coriander powder and garam masala and mix.
12- Transfer the tadka/tempering to the saag and mix.
Serve sarson ka saag with makki roti, sliced onion, jaggery and white butter! YUM!
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Sarson ka Saag
Ingredients
To Pressure Cook
- 250 grams mustard greens
- 250 grams mixed greens like spinach, bathua (chenopodium) I used mix of spinach, turnip and collard greens
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 5-6 large garlic cloves chopped
- 1 inch ginger chopped
- 2 green chilies or to taste, chopped
- 2 medium tomatoes chopped
- 3 inch white radish (mooli) chopped, around 1/2 cup chopped radish
- 1/2 teaspoon red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1.5 cups water
2 tablespoons maize flour (makki ka atta)
Tempering/Tadka
- 2-3 tablespoons ghee
- 1/4 teaspoon hing also known as asafetida
- 3-4 large garlic cloves chopped
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 dried red chilies
- 1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Instructions
- Wash and chop the greens and then add them to the pressure cooker. Then add the chopped onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies.
- Add tomatoes and white radish. Then add the red chili powder and salt. Add 1.5 cups water and stir.
- Pressure cook for 5-6 whistles (in a traditional stove top pressure cooker) on high heat until everything is soft and done.If using the Instant Pot (like I did here), cook on high pressure for 5 mins and then let the pressure release naturally. Alternatively, you can also cook everything on a stove top for 20-25 minutes until soft.
- Open the pressure cooker/instant pot and then use an immersion blender to puree the saag. If you don’t have an immersion blender, wait for it cool down a bit and then puree using your regular blender.
- Blend to a coarse paste. You may blend it to super fine texture using a high speed blender. I prefer it little coarse.
- Transfer saag to another pot on stove top over medium-low heat. Add 2 tablespoons of maize flour to the saag and mix, this helps in thickening the saag.
- Set heat to low and let the saag simmer for 20 to 25 minutes on low heat. It will thicken as it simmers.
- For the final tadka, heat a small pan on medium heat. Once the pan is hot add ghee to it and then add hing and chopped garlic cloves. Saute for few seconds and then add the chopped onion and dried red chilies.
- Cook until the onions and garlic turn light golden brown. Add the coriander powder and garam masala and mix.
- Transfer the tadka/tempering to the saag and mix.
- Serve sarson ka saag with makki roti, sliced onion, jaggery and white butter!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Can we make this without radish and other greens?
yes
In regard to step 6, can I add the maize flour directly to the instant pot and then add the tadka there rather than using a separate pot?
yes you can
This recipe is absolutely fantastic. You cannot go wrong if you follow through the instructions.
Excellent work.
Made this recipe and it turned out awesome !
Thank you..this is a keeper!
thanks for trying!
beautifully explained and displayed. Thank you
We made this with half mustard greens and half frozen spinach. It was delicious and the spiced tempering oil at the end made it taste nutty and almost Christmas-y in a way. We also added paneer. It was delicious!
thanks for the lovely feedback Kitty!
Instead of maize flour can you substitute with something else.
try besan! roast it first and then use
In my country we don´t get mustard greens. Can you recommend a good substitute?
Thanks đŸ™‚
Hi Miu, mustard green is the main ingredients since this is sarson ka saag and sarson is mustard greens. However, you can use just spinach or mix of spinach, turnip greens, collard greens, kale etc. as well. It will be a nice saag though not sarson ka saag in that case đŸ™‚
As a clarification, your notes suggest using a ratio of 2:1 for mustard greens to other greens, but the recipe calls for 1:1 (250g of each). If I’m cooking by weight, what ratio would you suggest?
use 250 grams of each as mentioned in the recipe
Best. Saag. Ever.
Thank you for this amazing recipe!
yay! đŸ™‚
Dear Manali,
Came across your website, quite by accident and your recipe for Sarson-ka Saag was right there, how fortuitous for me! This sounds absolutely delicious and I will be making it…Indian cuisine is at the very top of my very much loved food…thank you for sharing everything about this recipe…can’t wait to make it…again, thank you and I look forward to perusing and making your recipes…I love reading cookbooks and, especially, recipes that are near and dear to someone’s heart!
Hi Manali! Great recipe!
What would be a good substitute for yellow maize flour?
Regards, Nirja
you can use corn flour
Thank you for this recipe Manali. Made it with makki di roti from your blog, and we loved it.
Wow – this was delightful! I made this with turnip greens and spinach. Also, made a spicy aloo gobi to accompany the saag and decided to skip the peppers in this dish. I think that was a mistake – next time I will go with the full recipe! The extra spices at the end made a huge impact on flavor. Thank you for your easy-to-follow recipe!
Hi Manali, I got only a bunch called Saag and spinach and methi here. I’m not sure I can make Saag with it or not and I’m not even sure the Saag bunch is mustered greens or something else.
you can make saag with spinach only, it will be fine đŸ™‚ thought for traditional taste of saag you need mustard greens
Very Tasty and simple recipe. Tried first time and came out very well. Thank you so much and keep sharing similarly great recipes..!!
Great recipe, I must say. I’d like to know what to do, in case I forget to put tomatoes at all in the making process? I did miss them and now the tadka has been done but I miss that tangy taste. I’d there a way to improvize?
try adding some amchur
yes, it came out yummy, thanks, its simple too
glad to know!
Loved the recipe. It was easy, quick and tasty.
Nice recipe. I cook this using sarso green and palak. Today making it for the second time.
Wonderfully presented however I have a reservation. Greens do not require so much boilng (5-6 whistles are for hard lentils or beans like rajma and chole!). Overcooking robs them of vital vitamins. Please try boiling for one whistle only (or best, steaming). In case of palak paneer/palak saag, I actually just sautee the palak then add it to the blender with water. It tastes good and is healthier… Just an opinion. Your recipe is healthier than mine in one major way however – you combine several greens. Good idea! I would try that. Thanks for sharing and stay blessed.
I actually do the same with palak paneer (you may check my recipe), I was just showing how to do it in an Instant Pot, hence I pressure cooked it. Thanks for your suggestion.
I cant get mustard greens where i live. What can i use to make this dish.
Can i use curly kale instead of mustard greens
hmm well then it won’t be sarson ka saag, it will be kale saag. Sure if you want to make kale saag, make it! đŸ™‚
I have made this twice now since I finally found bathua being sold at my local Indian store. This recipe is spot on. Reminds me of the saag my grandmother used to make. It used to be a major production in those days without an electric hand blender. 5 stars for the authentic taste. The hardest part is washing the greens but ofc course, that’s very important. Thanks for a great recipe!
Glad to know đŸ™‚
We grew the mustard greens and the rest was mostly swiss chard that we also grew. After a super wet June we were excited to make this using all the greens in our garden. Can’t wait for them to grow back and do this all again in a week! YUM!
THIS!! LOVE THIS!
Hi Manali,
Sounds like an awesome recipe, would love to try, never ever made this earlier.
Would I get the mustard greens in Traders Joes alongwith the other greens, if not, where can I find mustard greens?
Thank you again for all the efforts u take, love your site and all the details you put in.
sometimes I find a mix of greens at Trader Joe’s which has mustard greens, spinach, turnip. If you are able to find that, use that. Else I find mustard greens at Indian grocery stores, also check walmart.
I took a few shortcuts because I was too hungry and lazy (didn’t cook the saag again after blending it and didn’t do the tempering, just added the ingredients to the saag at the end) and it still turned out really delicious.
This recipe turned out well for me, it is also well presented for experimentation and adjusting to convenience. Thanks!
I have canned palak about 400gm can u suggests how do I give it a good tadka only please thank u
Use ghee, cumin seeds, hing, dried red chilies and lots of hing.
Can you make it without other greens?
I only have mustard greens at home now.
you can! the only flip side is that mustard green all on it’s own will be a little bitter but you can definitely make it that way!
This is the real deal! As a non-Indian preparing this dish, I have made saag a few times following other recipes and it just hasn’t come out like what I eat in a restaurant. This one is so easy and tastes great, especially when adding some toasted paneer. I think it must be the extra finishing steps. I have made it three times now with various mixed greens including: broccoli and cauliflower leaves, Malabar spinach (basella), winter purslane, chard, kale, radish leaves, fresh cilantro, celeriac leaves, endive, cress, turnip greens, and lettuce that’s gone a little bitter. It’s a great dish for me to use up all kinds of mixed greens from my garden and other local gardens. I have made it both with and without the hing and it’s still great. I love to make some dal and this and sometimes have a third dish and then we can have an Indian dinner treat! Thanks for the great recipe.
you are welcome Lori, so glad you liked it đŸ™‚
Simply delicious… First time made sarso ka saag and using ur recipe it turned out to be yummy… Thanks..
Excellent recipe – used mustard greens, collard, turnip greens and spinach – followed everything as mentioned and came out excellent and yummy. This recipe is for keeps and will be used over and over. Thanks
tried it twice it came out good! easy steps!
what brand is the immersion blender that you used?
Breville
I used mustard greens, collard greens, and spinach but it smelled awful after steaming. The dish tastes good but does not smell very good. Is that normal?
it shouldn’t smell awful, not sure what went wrong there
I’m so excited to try this! I saw some beautiful Mustard Greens at the store & bought them on a whim. Checked your site for a recipe and now I just have 2 questions…
1) Can I substitute your frozen tomato onion masala in this? If so, how much would the recipe call for?
2) Can I use cornmeal for maize flour or would besan work?
Thanks Manali!
Hi Jules!
1) around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the frozen masala should be good!
2) yes you can substitute besan, should be okay…I would just pan fry besan for 5 minutes on medium heat to get rid of that raw smell and then add to the saag once it’s cooked.
hope this helps! and you enjoy the saag đŸ™‚
Perfect! Thanks so much for the quick reply!
This looks great and I will prepare it tomorrow. For the hing, I have both, the natural resin and the powdered which, of course, is mixed with other things to keep it powdery. Which should I use in this recipe? it calls for 1/4 teaspoon.
powdered hing!
Excellent easy simple and tasty
Easy and quickly made…
Easy and quick
good to know!