Haak ka Saag

Haak ka Saag

Posted On April 13, 2023
Categories: Recipes, View All

Description

Our Weekly Sale from April 13th – 19th celebrates the culinary traditions of Vaisakhi. This spring holiday, also known as Baisakhi, is traditionally celebrated on either April 13th or 14th and has been celebrated as a harvest festival in Punjab – an area of northern India – for a long time, even before it became so important to Sikhs. In 1699, Guru Gobind Singh chose the festival as the moment to establish the Khalsa – that’s the collective name given to Sikhs who’ve been baptized, and thus marks the time when Sikhism was born as a collective faith. Like many celebratory holidays, Vaisakhi is marked with singing, dancing, parades, colorful attire, and delicious foods that honor the harvest. With this in mind, we share this haak ka saag recipe hailing from the Punjab region of northern India. The recipe’s author describes it as “lip-smackingly good peasant food” which pairs well with the tandoori chicken recipe also featured this week on our Blog and Weekly Sale display

Instructions

Remove the central stems from the collards, then chop the leaves. Combine the chopped collards, spinach, garlic, and onion in a steamer (or place in a heavy-bottomed pot with a lid). Season with salt, red chili powder, and turmeric. Add half a cup of water and close the lid. Steam on medium-high for 10 minutes, reduce heat to low for another 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and check to ensure that the greens have wilted and turned a dark green color. Onions should have melted and garlic cloves should be soft and mushy. Add the flour and start stirring immediately with a large, sturdy spoon. Keep stirring to mix in all the flour and continue until the leaves disintegrate and come together as a mash. This should take approximately 10 minutes. In a separate pan over high, heat 1 tablespoon of the ghee until shimmering. Tip the pan so as to pool the hot ghee into one side of the pan. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and coriander seeds, let them splutter, then add ginger. Once it is fragrant add a pinch of red chili powder. Pour tadka over the saag and mix in. Transfer the saag to a serving bowl and garnish with an additional tablespoon of ghee. 

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