Seasonal delicacy & King of winter food
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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…
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The sarson ka sag is enough to lift this spartan meal |
