Sarson ka Sag/Cream of Mustard

Seasonal delicacy & King of winter food

Sarson da sag with paranthas and pickles

It is that  time of the year when the countryside in Punjab, as indeed many states of North India, are lush green with the big leaves of mustard, that will transform the place into brilliant yellow when the flowers bloom in a month or so. Remember that scene of Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, where Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan romace in mustard fields? The signature scene of DDLJ is a hit not just with those who love films and romance, but also food.

Mustard leaves

The characteristic, aromatic and pungent taste and flavor of the mustard leaves, is a cultivated taste.A colleague often uses just a touch of the crisp leaves, shredded real tiny, in salads and raitas, with fantastic result.

An all-time favourite dish in North India is sarson ka sag—mustard greens cooked with a few things, and pressed and crushed with a “math”—a large-sized pestle—until  the moss green puree acquires a creamy texture. 

It is eaten with dollops of white  home made butter as a side with makki ki roti—rotis made of  golden coloured , a bit coarse corn flour. This flour is yet to be seen this season, but I could not wait for that to buy the mustard leaves and make sarson ka sag, and eat it with some plain paranthas, and pickles.

Spinach

Every family in Punjab has its own little tricks when making this sag—which is often made in huge quantities, partly because it keeps well—for a week in the fridge, and much longer in the freezer, unless it is polished off  at once—and largely because it is a bit labourious. Instead of making small quantities often, it makes more sense for women to  labour one full day, and make lots, sometimes for extended family, friends, neighbours et all. The dish after all, is the celebration of winter, no less.

Chopped Mustard leaves

The labour involved is largely cleaning and chopping, though if one is lucky, now a days, the man or woman selling the sag, will also chop them for you, using either an “dantri”, or a mini-version of a fodder chopper.

In the old days when it used to be cooked in a terracotta gadvi—urn—on a wood fired chulla, it would take all day…slowly get done. Now a days, an hour in the pressure cooker, followed by some fine mashing, some more cooking, and it is ready. But even this is more laborious than  most other dishes.

Malvinder Kaur, mother of  auto-expert and friend Kishie Singh, who lived to be almost a hundred, would ensure I got a carrybag of the cooked sarson ka sag,  that she grew in her garden in Kansal. She shared her love’s labour with others she was fond of too. I was the daughter she adopted very late in her life. Many times she told me that the iron content and fibre content in the sag, along with the peg of whisky she downed after sunset, was the secret to her healthy “almost a 100, darling”.

I follow a recipe that I learnt from Beejee, my friend Nirupama Dutt’s mother—though I have always got my  fair share of  mother’s love from her. Before she passed away, she ensured I would be given her Grandma’s chair, a comfortable and exquisite piece of furniture, though she had seven children who were also eyeing it. It was delivered at my place almost five years after she left us, and now occupies a pride of place at my home in Chandigarh. Beejee’s name was  Kusum Dutt. One of her many talents was her excellent food—a touch of  imagination and innovation thrown into the traditional. I remember her often. Every time I make the sarson ka sag, I wonder whether she would approve of the way I’d made it. Of course, like most home cooks, and good ones at that, she never counted the bunches of this or that, and went with what was available…

Ginger,green chillies & garlic are cooked with the greens

Ingredients:

Mustard leaves – 3 bunches

Spinach-1 bunch

Bathua-1 bunch( was not available the day I made this first sag of the season)

Methi-1 bunch

Ginger—4 inch piece

Green chillies-10 or 12

Garlic-10-12 pods

Dhania seeds-1 teaspoon

Salt-to taste

Mustard oil—1 tablespoon

Makki ka atta—2 heaped tablespoons

Sugar or jiggery —one teaspoon equivalent

Chopped onions/tomatoes-- for added "tadka" is altogether  optional.

Method: Clean and chop the greens , giner, green chillies,and garlic pods, dhania seeds mix them well, and put them in a large pressure cooker, with about one tall glass (250 ml) of water, and pressure cook for an hour – bring the flame to sim when you hear the first whistle.

Switch off, let the pressure come down. This will take almost 20 minutes. Open the lid, put the dry makki ka atta, and using a math or madani, press and mash the greens with the atta, nicely. It is quite an exercise !

Now drizzle the mustard oil, and mix well. Take the cooker back on to the flame, and without the lid, cook for about 10-15 minutes, so that the atta is not raw, the sag is well blended. Now add salt according to taste, and then the sugar or jiggery, stir well.

Sag with a drizzle of ghee on top

The sag is ready. A generous pouring of ghee on top will suffice, but you can jazz this up with onions and tomatoes sauted in ghee, or even simple jeera and hing (asofeatida) , tempered in ghee.

The butter/ghee in this will never be “too much” for the figure conscious/health conscious. The greens are so, so rich in fibre, among other things, that the richness of butter and ghee will be taken care of .

Serve with plain roti/paranthas/makki ki roti/missi roti… or even one or the other variety of  puries. Enjoy !

PS : Many families now do a partial cooking of the sag, cool it, put it in the blender, add the dry makki ki atta, and blend it fine. I however like the texture that comes only when it is mashed with a madani, the traditional way. A mixer/blender does it too fine, however briefly we may use it.

The sarson ka sag is enough to lift this spartan meal