June 1, 2007

SAAG BHAJI

Saag Bhaji,is my contribution to Nupur from "One Hot Stove" blog's "A to Z Indian Vegetables" event.This week's letter is "S", thanks for hosting Nupur!:)

My second batch of homegrown Red Radishes:





First batch of these beauties came very early in the Spring which I used for making Radish Kadhi and send it to Kalyn's WHB.They are so easy to grow,when I pluck one batch I throw some seeds immediately for the next batch.Saag means greens.I used these red radishes with it's greens,Mustard greens,Methi leaves and some Spinach to make this delicious Bhaji.With a very few spices and besan,it's creamy and delectable to have with Bhakri or any kind of Rotis.Since it's a one pot dish, I didn't take any step by step pictures.Enjoy:)





Mixed Saag Bhaji:


You need:
6-8 cups or 1 bunch of each or any greens you like with sliced red radishes,2 tbsp Besan(Chickpea flour),2 tsp oil and 2 tsp butter.Lemon slices to garnish.
To Season: 1 tsp each mustard seeds and Cumin seeds,2 tsp each Urad dal and Channa dal,1 red chilly,2 green chillies chopped,curry leaves(optional),1 small onion chopped.
How to make it:
1. Heat oil and butter in a non-stick pan,add all the seasoning ingredients on e by one,stir fry.
2. When onions are reddish,add besan and stir until it's slightly cooked.
3. Put in all the washed and chopped greens,salt,stir until they wilt.Add a cup of water,cover and cook the greens.
4. Open the lid,check for seasonings and if it's too thick you can add some more water.Gravy should be thickish,not too thin.
5. Put it in a bowl and squeeze some lemon juice or serve slices when you serve with Rotis.

Saag Bhaji with Rice Rotti:


Enjoy the delicious Bhaji with Roti.Have a great weekend.

Tipology:

Here are some tips on Greens for Sushma's Tipolgy for the month June.Thanks Sushma:)


1. You'll need to cook more fresh greens per person than you might think since when chopped and cooked,greens are reduced literally to handfuls.Adjust the amount accordingly.
2. Some sour greens like Gongura leaves react with metal pans,so take care to cook them with non-stick pans or non-reactive pans.
3. Keep the greens unwashed in the fridge wrapped in paper towels until you are ready to wash and cook.Damp greens do not store well for more than a day.
4. To wash the greens, fill a sink with slightly warm water,add the leaves and let them soak for few mins and rinse well under the faucet to get the all the grits and soil.Place on the clean towel to dry or use salad spinner.
5. Remove the hard stems from older Swiss chard, spinach, kale, or beet greens by tearing the ends off.Hard stems do not cook well or taste good.
6. If you want cooked and dried Spinach, cook and let it cool. Squeeze out the water using a cheese cloth or a muslin cloth.
7. Greens are full of beta-carotene, with the darkest greens having the most. For supplying these presumed cancer-fighting antioxidants. They are also rich in Calcium.
8. Use young tender greens in salads raw for maximum nutrition and do not cook Greens for a long time to retain the color and nutrition in them.
9. Greens are healthier for us all,a cheaper and the best way to get natural vitamins.Try and add more greens in your daily diet.Greens have Folate which is a very important Vitamin to pregnant women and women in general.
10. Best greens of all variety is Kale and Spinach which are greenest.Other most common greens you can cook with are Collards,Beet greens,Mustard greens,Radish greens,swiss Chard,etc.

Make your life more greener!:))

37 comments:

Ramya's Mane Adige said...

Hey, I seem to have a prob in seeing the pics on your post :(((
But, I liked your saag recipe! it seems quite simple to make..... thanx ! :)

Coffee said...

I love those raddishes!!!!! Can you send me some ;)

Thats a wonderful saag with besan!!!! I love the combo of greens and besan... I normally make with methi leaves and spring onions. :)

FH said...

Ramya,I tried to post from Photo bucket for the first time!Guees it doesn't work properly.I will post photo the usual way.It is very tasty,try:))

Okay Coffee, catch!!!;D
It's simple and delicious.Spring onions sounds great,I will try that next time.Have a great weekend:))

Arts said...

Simple and So nutritious!!
cool combination.. we make methi pithla in similar fashion!
and the radishes look so pretty!!

FH said...

Hi Arts,I added few methi leaves,didn't have much.Tastes great though,isn't it?
Pithla sounds great,may be that's what it is!I love red radishes,they are mild and doesn't smell like the other ones:))

USHA said...

Hi Ashaji,
Thanks for the recipe.As idon't like raddish, i don't do much at home.But myhubby take raddish, he was telling once that my MIL does radishcurry with its greens.

I don't have any idea, after seeing your recipe felt happy, let me try this and make his happy.

Richa said...

hi asha, that pic of saag bhaji in the bowl is tooo tooo tooo good! so creamy with a beautiful color, love it !!!!! i've a pack of radishes with me, but sans the greens :(
i too like the greens + besan combo, but as u mentioned one needs a ton of greens just to get bowl full of the dish heh!heh!
enjoy ur wknd :)

FH said...

Usha,you can add any greens to this,skip Radishes if you don't like it.Mixed saag tastes great too:))
Have a great weekend.

FH said...

Richa,you are right.I had to mix so many greens to get that much!:D
Try it with any greens,equally good.Thanks.Enjoy the weekend:))

Kribha said...

Nice healthy dish and beautiful radishes. I usually like combination of two or more greens. Will try it when I'm in India. I'll be gone for 4 months. Actually I'm looking for dishes to impress my MIL. She is a big fan of greens and I'll surely try this for her. Thanks for posting this.

FH said...

You are welcome Kribha.Lucky you,you don't have to worry about variety of greens in India,get plenty.Try it,it's delicious.I used Methi and Palak too.
Safe journey to India:))

Seema Bhat said...

Wow Asha, Those radishes are from your vegetable garden again. Looks like you have a nice harvest going on in your backyard. Thumba chennagide bhaji. Somehow Nange besan smell ashtu ishta agalla Asha. Is there anything else that I can substitute it with?
hugs
Seema

FH said...

Hi Seema,yup! You can see the first batch on the sidebar.They are all growing very well.Can't wait for next month!:)
Besan modalu swalpa huridare soppige hakokke munche,ashtu vasne baralla,madinodu.You can make this without Besan or you can add 3 tbsp Channa dal for seasoning.Hope you try.

Suganya said...

Hay this is looking great....Lovely photos... Lots of useful informations about greens..

Pravs said...

Looks colorful asha. love dishes made with greens.... so will have to try this. Those raddish look beautiful :D

FH said...

Thank you Sukanya.Give it a try this weekend:))

Thank you Pravs.I have a Banana pepper and few Chery tomatoes out already!!I am so thrilled,can't wait for them ripen:))

Have a great weekend both of you.

Pravs said...

Oh i envy you asha... i miss gardening. What's banana pepper ?

FH said...

Banana peppers looks like small bananas,bright yellow and about as big as Poblanos(Mexican chilly),hot like Jalapenos,very beautiful to look at.I will post the picture as soon as they ripen.It's in the pot too,so you can grow them easily in hot temp:)

Anonymous said...

Hi Asha, wow, I can only hope for some beautiful radishes like those. I just spent an hour digging outside and what a pile of rocks I dug up. Hope my little red buddies have enough room to grow! The saag bhaji looks super-yummy. I just happen to have a mess of swiss chard in the fridge, too -- I think I'll whip this up for supper. Thanks! :)

PS Strawberry yogurt pie looks great too!

TheCooker said...

Just beautiful!
The saag looks simply delicious.
Things taste better if you've grown them, right?

FH said...

Linda,I grew them in a rectangle flower pot!:D They do need them some loose soil.I know those clays are terrible.Arvind keeps clearing them out.Good luck with those.
I sowed 3 types Amaranth(bought online) last week,they have already sprouted!YAY! Swiss Chard tastes great with this masala too.Enjoy:))

Hi TC,I heard that Pithla has the same recipe too.Tasted great with rotis.Hope you try.
You can't beat freshly dug out and cleaned veggies to cook!!:D

TheCooker said...

Rather than pithla, this dish is similar to the 'peeth-perleli bhaaji'; what is nothing but besan sprinkled over the vegetable of choice. I make such a dish using either onions, bell peppers, or spring onions. I'll try radish greens next time. Actually beet greens should work well, too.

FH said...

TC,see! This is why I love blogging!:) I learn so many things from others,love that name.I do have a pepper fry with besan like that at FH,didn't know the name until now.Thanks for telling me.Enjoy it with greens:))

Roopa said...

Saag Bhaji looks yummy! i love those beet greens only if i could get hold of them here :0. Have a wonderful sunday :)

Sig said...

Asha, that looks great... simple and colorful... looks yummy with the rice roti. Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

FH said...

Hi Roopa,beet greens comes with beets,but mostly we get a handful,still have to mix other greens.Try this with Greens,tastes great.Just woke up,planning for Sunday's breakfast and lunch:))

Hi Sig,thanks.Trisha had SAT college prep exam yesterday,didn't do much.I am planning nice lunch for today,you will see on Wednesday.Hope the routine work is not boring you after all the wonerful beach fun you had!;D

Mona said...

Ah! Asha! this is a great recipie. We also make sarson ka saag the panjabi way with with mustard spinich methi & bathua leaves. We add corn flour and ginger to it And add a lot of clarified butter in the end We have it with makke ki roti! :)

Also, I love that strawberry youghurt pie..YUM!

FH said...

Mona,Thanks.I made Sarson da saag and Makki da roti last week,will be at FH in few weeks!I love that combo too:)
This saag is different,with besan which is more like Mumbai Pithla.Try it.It's sunday ,relaxing and making a nice lunch.Did you check the FH,soups and Irish bread?! Enjoy today.Got to go and cook now!:)

Sharmi said...

very healthy recipe Asha. looks good too. good one for so many entries.

FH said...

Thank you Sharmi.Try it.Hope you are having a great weekend:))

SeePearrl said...

mmmmm....yummmiiiiiiiiieeeee!!

Kajal said...

very nice simple and healthy recipe
love your beatiful dish with nice color
THANKS FOR SHARING

Suma Gandlur said...

Asha, those radishes look beautiful. Liked your simple and healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing.

Viji said...

a green from our own garden. Asha, You are so lucky to get such organic stuffs. Very nice. I love that first picture. Viji

Sia said...

wow...another green post by u ashakka...looks wonderful... got to try growing radish, and for that the weather should get better... its hopeless here...weekend was so bright and hot and today back to sqaure one:(
by the way do u have recipe for poori saagu? i will check in ur FH-index later.
good tips on greens. if ur greens are wilted and looks un-fresh just dip them in ice cold water for few mins and they will look fresh again:) i usually do this for salad greens:)

FH said...

Hi KF! Good to see you back.Give it a try:))

Thanks Kajal.It's very simple recipe,but very tasty:)

Hi Suma,it is mixed greens.They always taste great and good with Akki rottis:))

FH said...

Thanks Viji.First thing I got from my garden was Red Radishes.I sow a small bunch ,so I always add other greens too.It's a pleasure to see grow,tastes so when they are fresh.You can grow them in a deep rectangle pots too Viji.Try:)

Hello Sia amma!:)) It was hot weekend for you and it rained for us here whol eweekend which was a relief after a very hot week!
I do have Poori saagu posted long time ago, my mom's recipe.Photo is not that good there but recipe is very tasty. I was new to blogging then!;D
and I made Idli Saagu again last week with diff. recipe,will post later.You can make this Saag bhaji with Palak or any greens,it was yummy.Try it:)