Creamy Punjabi Style Turnips Greens

On Thursday, just in time for the long weekend my husband brought in two full bags of turnip greens. I really was not sure what to do with this unexpected bounty. These greens have rougher taste than spinach and therefore need some coaxing to be mellowed. I also read that there greens taste and mimic mustard greens aka sarson ka saag in Hindi. Now it is difficult if not impossible (if you love Indian regional cuisine like me) not to think of the classic punjabi mustard greens recipe, where these lovely greens are slow cooked till they are nice and creamy. So, I wanted to do this with the turnip greens, with just one problem - the mustard green recipe that I speak of is a winter classic in Indian, when you do not mind cooking something till it is nice and soft and cooked to a puree, unlike the hot summer day that we had today.

Well, here is where perusing the blogosphere comes in handy. I came across this recipe, where the pressure cooker comes in handy. It cuts through both the energy needed as well as the cooktime.  I added in a handful of whole cooked dried peas, these are the whole version of split peas, which enhanced the creamy texture of the greens.

Salgam ki Saag - Creamy Turnip Greens

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

4-6 cups of chopped turnip greens (tough stems, discarded)

1 cup of chopped spinach (I actually had some frozen spinach on hand)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup cooked whole dried peas

1 cup water

3 tablespoons maize flour (this is Indian style cornflour, not cornstarch)

2-3 tablespoons oil

1 red onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced or grated fresh ginger

3 cloves grated garlic

1 tomato, finely chopped

1 green chili, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1 -2 teaspoons of butter

Method of Preparation

1. Place the greens, salt and half the water in a pressure cooker and cook for about 12 minutes. Cool and mash with the spoon.

2. Add in the cornflour and the split peas with remaining water and cook on low heat until the mixture is thick and creamy about 5-7 minutes.

3. While this is cooking heat the oil and add in the onion, ginger and garlic and cook till the onions are soft and begining to turn golden.

4. Add in the tomate, green chili and red chili powder and cook until the tomato is nice and soft and the mixture is well cooked, you should see the oil on the edges of the spice mixture.

5. Mix into the greens and cook for another 3-4 minutes.

6. Add in the garam masala and top with the butter.

These greens are typically served with handmade cornbreads much like tortillas, I actually did make a version of these, I shall post recipe later.