Indian-Style Stewed Greens (Sarson Ka Saag): So Tasty You’ll Strike Your Happy Dance!

Get ready for a revelation in how good stewed greens can be, because this recipe for Sarson ka Saag is “the bomb.” 

Each time I make this dish, I am more and more amazed by its qualities. A ton of greens—packed with nutrition, antioxidants, and fiber—are cooked in a single pot, and then flavored with onions fried in pure ghee. 

The result is succulent and very well balanced. I love this dish with rice, with flatbreads like roti, with eggs, with toast, or even by the spoonful, like a soup.

Before I discovered sarson ka saag, I always thought leafy greens should be cooked in a way that preserves their vibrant green color. 

This meant they could only be barely cooked.

Think of broccoli that is perfectly bright green. It isn’t tender right? 

When broccoli (or any leafy green) is cooked longer and becomes soft, the color doesn’t look good. So it's a matter of both color and texture. 

Still, I thought it was odd that despite my not really enjoying undercooked vegetables, the idea that I might cook leafy greens for 30 minutes had not even entered my mind. 

Truly. Where had I been all this time? 

Then I read that nearly every household in Northern India enjoys this dish of stewed greens, (sarson ka saag), regularly.

And in the American south, a place I have not yet visited, stewed collard greens are a traditional dinner side. 

So I now stand corrected on the value of cooking greens really well. And hopefully I have also convinced you of its merits. 

Stewed greens are popular with millions of people for good reason!

How to make

The traditional recipe in India features a good amount of spinach mixed with mustard greens. 

These are cooked for 30 minutes in a large saucepan with a small amount of water, and a spice mixture of sautéed garlic, ginger, and green chili, for 30 minutes.

After the greens are well cooked, they are blended until creamy. If you have an immersion blender, it would work well here. 

Next, grated onion is cooked separately in ghee (a form of clarified butter). 

Finally, garam masala (a warm spice mixture featuring some variation of cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and anise), and fresh lime juice, are added for flavor. 

That’s it folks! These are the stewed greens that are so tasty you’ll strike your happy dance. 

Or maybe you’ll sigh in admiration, as I do. 

Or you can just savor every bite of balanced perfection and marvel at how lovely it is. 

I am sure you will find your own way to appreciate it. 

But first you have to make it! It will only take you about 20 minutes of prep time, and it’s a great way to eat your greens. 

Why this recipe is so good

I generally don’t like to mess with traditional recipes, but with this one I am very proud of my small, yet important, innovation. 

This innovation takes into account the fact that Americans don’t enjoy the bitter flavor as much as people in India do. 

It also considers that most of us have access to leafy greens such as kale, Swiss chard, and collard greens, which are all vegetables that most Indians don’t have access to. 

So what I have discovered is that you can combine any greens, and this dish will turn out good. 

The trick is to ensure a good amount of spinach, because the spinach contributes to the recipe’s succulent texture. Fresh or frozen spinach works just as well, and I’ve found that a quarter of the total greens is a sufficient amount. 

I have also learned that it works well to include some leeks or scallions for pungency and texture. 

Make sure to include at least something bitter, such as mustard greens, dandelion greens, radish, or turnip greens. 

The bitter greens are essential to make the flavor pop in the end, since bitter of one of the six tastes. 

You will need 12 cups of greens (loosely packed) for this recipe. Mix and match what you have, but for the ideal balance, go for a proportion as follows: 

• 6 cups mild greens: choose from kale, collards, Swiss chard, collards, leeks and scallions, etc.
• 3 cups spinach. You can also include spinach in the mild greens category if you want to use more spinach. If you use frozen, use half the quantity since it is more concentrated.
• 3 cups bitter greens: choose from mustard greens, dandelion, radish, or turnip greens, etc.

Why ghee?

As a newcomer to this recipe, I was fascinated by the idea of simmering grated onion in ghee, and then adding it to the greens. 

First of all, who grates onions? The way I get around it is to process my onion in a mini food chopper. Theoretically, you could try actually grating it. Or you could also chop it finely, and it would work just as well. 

Once you’ve got that onion, you simmer it slowly in ghee until it starts to caramelize.

This is a beautiful process. Just imagine the scent of onions cooking in butter? It is one of life’s greatest things isn’t it? 

Once you’ve reached that glorious allium perfection, you infuse it into your greens along with some garam masala and fresh lime juice. 

The greens now have a rich depth of flavor from the ghee, and a perfect balance of tastes. 

Ghee is a very pure and healthy fat. It is basically butter with the milk solids removed, so that it’s more like a cooking oil, with a wonderfully subtle nutty flavor. 

If you haven’t tried ghee, check out my recommendations below, and also my recipe on how to make your own homemade ghee from butter. It’s super easy. 

How to clean greens

Cleaning leafy greens is really simple and efficient with my method. 

You chop first, then wash.

First, cut off any tough stems you don’t want, and use your fingers to tear off any greens from the stems.

Next, chop the large leaves into bite-sized pieces. To do this, pile up a portion of the leaves one of top of each other, then use your largest knife to chop 1-inch strips across the length of the leaves. Then go through again at a 90-degree angle to chop the strips into squares.

If the bunch is large, you might need to chop the leaves in 2-3 batches.

Once chopped, pick up the pieces with your hands and place them in a large mixing bowl. 

Drop the bowl in the sink and fill with cold water. 

Now swoosh the greens in the water with your hands to remove the dirt, and place the bowl next to the stove. 

When you are ready to put the greens into your cooking pot, lift them out of the water with your hands, allow to drain for a few seconds, then transfer directly into your cooking pot. 

This works because any dirt that was on the greens will have settled onto the bottom of the bowl, so it won’t get into your food. It saves a step of draining, spinning, or whatever else you might have been doing before.

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