Cooked mustard or other bitter greens, such as kale, collards, or turnip greens, and spinach or other mild greens, such as chard, bok choy, or beet greens, are combined to make Indian saag. Any variety of greens will do! For hot saag, use more spices and peppers; for mild, use fewer.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 50 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 3 cups |
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons cumin seed
- 1 green chile pepper, seeded and diced
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 pound chopped fresh mustard greens
- 1 pound chopped fresh spinach
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat; cook and stir turmeric, cumin seed, chile pepper, and garlic until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Stir in chopped mustard greens and spinach a little at a time, adding the tougher stems and thicker leaves first. Cook and stir until greens are thoroughly wilted.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
- Stir in ground cumin, coriander, and salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until greens are tender, about 10 minutes; add water as needed to keep greens moist.
- Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 182 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 8 g |
| Cholesterol | 41 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 10 g |
| Sodium | 565 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 16 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Added ginger, garam masala, sugar, and tomato paste as suggested by others. Also added some cornstarch, but definitely might want to just do 1 teaspoon is the flavor was there, but it was extremely mushy.
Nice base but needed a touch of sugar and tomato paste. I notice some people have mentioned that it is missing something, and that thing for me was tomato paste and a teaspoon of sugar. Can also use tomato sauce/ketchup without the sugar. Can also add a half to one whole teaspoon of mustard powder to really get that authentic flavor.
Made it and tasted WAY off. Went to a friend to ask what I did wrong and he said the recipe is missing the ginger and garam masala
I’ve made this dish twice using a spinach/kale combo and everything went fine. This is an easy & versatile recipe.
Was delicious and easy to make. Made it using frozen spinach and ghee. It was a bit too spicy for me but I can’t do spicy. Hubs said it wasn’t spicy to him. I just ate it with a little plain yogurt like I do with pretty much any spicy dish. Definitely plan to make again with the same spice level.
I used kale, spinach, ground cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, and some chili lime seasoning. I threw in shrimp at the end and served it with basmati rice and garlic naan. We really liked it!
Great recipe, I used collard greens, kale and spinach and it came out great!
Excellent Easy Tasty
I’d use less cumin and less salt… other than that it was great!! I used spinach only, no mustard greens.
I made the recipe as written and it tasted incredibly bland compared to the saag my Desi friends make. I added three times the amount of spices called for in this recipe and it started to taste OK. Then I added a bunch of cayenne (at least two tbs) and that brought it together. Also the whole cumin seeds give it a weird crunchy mouthfeel; I would recommend ground cumin. Also, text time I make this recipe I am going to use ghee instead of butter, as something didn’t taste quite “authentic” about it and I suspect that’s what it is.
Family thought it was spicier than they were expecting (I did modify, using Penzey’s New Curry to sub for the turmeric, coriander, etc) and it wasn’t as cooked down or creamy. Next time, I’d chop everything much finer and add cream or yogurt at the end.
I used half the butter, and it was delicious (with half the fat and cholesterol). Made this with fresh mustard greens and kale, and frozen spinach.
We used frozen spinach and pressed out the liquid after thawing. I think it made the dish a little too dry.
Turned out great, only used spinach, added garam masala, a couple tablespoons of heavy cream. Could have used coconut milk, but didn’t feel like opening a whole can. Used a stick blender to pulse garlic, ginger and spinach to a nice consistency.
This is my favorite saag recipe. I usually only use spinach though and its great!
I added garbanzo beans, 2 chopped shallots and 2 chopped Roma tomatoes. It was amazing! This will be on the dinner rotation!
I made this with Yuchoy without the cumin seeds and chile pepper and I used some dried jalepenos. I’ll try again with a different greens next time.
The recipe’s explanation that saag is a mix of mild greens and bitter greens was very helpful. I added yogurt for creaminess as that is much healthier than cornstarch and I noticed other recipes use heavy cream to get the creaminess. I also saw that other recipes added garam masala. It was delicious without it but I might try it next time. Next time I will use half the salt as it was way too salty for my taste. With the other wonderful spices not that much salt is needed. I used collard greens and kale for my bitter greens. I used 1/4 C canola and 1/4 C butter to make it slightly healthier. It’s a great basic recipe. Here is a recipe for garam masala … https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/142967/easy-garam-masala/
I did not use green chili… Instead I used red chili powder and chili flakes. Came out fantastic. I also made Chapati bread to go with it. Very good I will make it again
This saag was made with only kale. It is a simple dish, less creamy than the types of saag that use sour cream and butter; but probably healthier!
Overall okay and a bit bitter. There are better saag recipes