Depending on the amount of the flesh and the age of the deer, marinate the venison for 12–36 hours in a red wine-based sauce. Then take the meat out of the marinade and grill or roast it until it’s medium rare.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 45 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 2 large dried red chile peppers (Optional)
- 2 bunches fresh spinach, washed and chopped
- 1 bunch mustard greens, washed and chopped
- 2 tablespoons ghee (clarified butter)
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ cup finely chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon ginger paste
- 2 teaspoons garlic paste
- ½ tomato, chopped
- salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon white sugar, or to taste
- ¼ cup water (Optional)
Instructions
- Place the chiles into a dry skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until the chiles turn dark red-brown in color and give off their fragrance, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool, and remove stems of chiles; shake out the seeds, and tear the flesh of the roasted chiles into pieces. Set aside.
- Place the spinach into a saucepan over medium heat; place mustard greens into a separate saucepan. If leaves are dry, mix in 1 or 2 of tablespoons of water. If leaves are still wet, just cover the pans and simmer the greens until tender, about 10 minutes. Allow to cool.
- Place greens together into the work bowl of a food processor, and pulse several times to break up the greens, then process to a paste, about 1 minute.
- Heat ghee in a large saucepan over medium heat, and stir in the cumin seeds, stirring for about 30 seconds or until the seeds sizzle and turn a darker brown color. Mix in the onion, cook and stir until lightly browned, about 3 minutes, and mix in the roasted peppers, ginger paste, garlic paste, and tomato. Mix in the pureed greens, bring to a simmer, and stir in salt and sugar to taste. If dish is too thick, mix in up to about 1/4 cup of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the greens are the desired thickness.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 89 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 9 g |
| Cholesterol | 11 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Protein | 5 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 160 mg |
| Sugars | 1 g |
| Fat | 5 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
It’s really too bitter and too much whole greens to it I think I will do a purée first.
It has a good base to build off of, but mine turned out fairly bland. I’d made this for my Indian girlfriend, and she directed me how to make it more palatable (after the addition of some grated ginger, madras curry power, turmeric, and a splash of a pepper-lime sauce it was much better!)
We have been trying many different recipes to make saag at home and this was the closest.. It was very good! I had to skip the chiles because I didnt have any so added some red crushed pepper. Another thing that wasn’t clear to me so I guessed was qtys of the Mustard Greens & Spinach. I bought bagged Spinach and we grew our own Mustard Greens. I wish there was a qty by weight given. I followed the directions as stated and modified only by adding about 50% more cumin seeds, a whole tomato, and added 1/2 tsp of garam masala. It was really really great!
Truly delicious! I will be making this any time I need an Indian side dish. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Delicious! Served this with basmati rice along with Tandoori chicken grilled on a Big Green Egg. Used the greens from my garden: equal parts chard, spinach, arugula, and kale. I doubled the cumin, tomato, and added about 1/2 tsp. of garam masala.
Excellent. I substituted one Habanero pepper and two Serrano peppers, sautéed in a little ghee. Also added fresh portabella mushrooms. Served it with Allrecipes Bhagari Jhinga, Indian Stir fried shrimp in cream sauce and Allrecipes Basmati rice.
I served this recipe with aloo chaat, roti, and a side of raw tomato as a hearty brunch for myself and my children. I subtracted the red chilies to make the recipe kid friendly. I cleaned the kitchen while everyone ate and I kept peeking around the corner only to continuously hear ‘mmmm’ noises from the dining room table, which always signifies a winner recipe! To my surprise my children ate every bite! Great recipe.
I was a little afraid to try this, spinach mush didn’t sound too appealing. But I needed a vegetable recipe to go with some Indian potatoes I was making for a vegetarian dinner so thought I would brave it. Wow this is wonderful! The only changes I made were to use kale instead of mustard greens, since the grocery didn’t have them. I also used fresh ginger and garlic in place of the paste, but otherwise I stuck to the recipe as written. If you like spinach, this is a terrific side dish. Be sure to use real ghee; you can tell the difference. The tomatoes give the dish a light tanginess that perfectly offsets any bitterness. I highly recommend this with any Indian meal. Thanks for a lovely recipe!
I love Indian food and also cook a lot of it as well. This dish exactly as is , is very delicious. If you don’t enjoy very hot food , you may consider using only 1 pepper as they are large. I enjoyed this with Roti and makes a lovely lunch or light meaL.