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Sabzi (vegetables)Punjabi recipes

Sarson ka Saag Recipe

سرسوں کا ساگ بنانے کا طریقہ

Punjabi sarson ka saag: mustard greens slow-cooked with spinach, ghotna-churned with maize flour and finished with a garlic and desi ghee tarka.
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Illustration of Sarson ka Saag

Prep

30 min

Cook

2 hr

Total

2 hr 30 min

Serves

6

Difficulty

Medium

Spice

Mild

Saag is the dish of a Punjabi winter: mustard greens cooked for hours until they melt, then churned smooth with a little maize flour and finished with a lot of ghee. Spinach softens the sharpness of the mustard, and a few turnips or bathua leaves are common additions in the village. It is always eaten with makki di roti, a lump of white butter and a glass of lassi.

Ingredients

6 servings

For 6 servings

Measures

For the tarka (baghaar)

Method

  1. Strip off and discard any thick, woody mustard stalks; peel the tender stems. Wash the mustard greens and spinach in several changes of water until no grit settles, then chop roughly.

  2. Put the greens, turnip, ginger, garlic, green chillies, salt and water in a large heavy pot. Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer on low heat until the greens are completely soft and dark.

    ⏱ 75 min

  3. Take the pot off the heat and churn the greens with a wooden ghotna, or pulse briefly with a hand blender. Leave some texture; saag should be coarse, not a smooth purée.

    ⏱ 5 min

  4. Put the pot back on low heat. Sprinkle in the maize flour a spoonful at a time, stirring hard so it does not form lumps. Cook, stirring often, until the saag thickens and the raw flour taste goes.

    ⏱ 20 min

  5. For the tarka, heat the ghee in a small pan. Fry the onion until golden, then add the chopped garlic, ginger and dried red chillies and fry until the garlic is golden.

    ⏱ 8 min

  6. Pour the tarka into the saag, stir and simmer for 5 more minutes so the ghee goes through it. Serve with a lump of butter on top.

    ⏱ 5 min

Tips for the best result

  • Roughly two parts mustard to one part spinach is the usual balance. All mustard is sharper and slightly bitter; more spinach makes it milder.
  • Saag tastes better the next day. Make a big pot, and add a fresh tarka each time you reheat a portion.
  • A pressure cooker cuts the first cooking to about 20 minutes after the whistle.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the cooking. Undercooked mustard stays stringy and bitter; it needs to be soft enough to mash with a spoon before you churn it.
  • Dumping the maize flour in at once. It lumps instantly; sprinkle it in slowly while stirring.

How to serve

Serve hot with makki di roti, white butter, sliced onion or radish and a glass of lassi.

Storing and reheating

Keeps 4 days in the fridge and freezes well for up to 2 months (freeze before the tarka).

Nutrition and cost

Worked out from the ingredients, not measured in a lab. Treat both as a rough guide.

Per serving Estimate

Calories
180kcal
Protein
8g
Fat
10g
Carbs
19g
Fibre
8.1g
Sodium
880mg

Estimated from USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy (April 2018), public domain values for the raw ingredients (100% of the recipe by weight had data). Deep-frying oil is counted at 20%; bones and water lost in cooking are not subtracted, so bone-in and fried dishes can read high. Not medical advice. Method

Cost per servingEstimate

≈ Rs 6

Whole dish ≈ Rs 38 · 9% of ingredients by weight priced

From the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics weekly SPI, week ended 29 Oct 2026. Spices, herbs and some vegetables are not in the SPI and are left out unless you add your price, so the real cost is a little higher. How this works

Sarson ka Saag: questions people ask

Why is my sarson ka saag bitter?

Too many thick stalks, too little spinach, or not enough cooking. Peel the stems, add more spinach, and cook until fully soft; a tarka with plenty of ghee also rounds it out.

Can I make saag without makki ka atta?

Yes, use the same amount of besan or atta, though maize flour gives the authentic texture and slightly sweet taste.

Serve it with, and similar recipes

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Read this recipe in Urdu: سرسوں کا ساگ بنانے کا طریقہ

https://handi.danixsoft.com/recipes/sarson-ka-saag · Handi, DanixSoft