Palang Sager Chorchori

With the coming winter months vegetable markets will be flooded with bunches of fresh Palang Saag (Palak/Spinach)…the healthy green leafy vegetable…cooked in my kitchen most of the days.

I remember as a child I would shy away from any Saag preparation and always get a shout from Ma, “Eat saag, its good for the eyes and skin”. There used to be different kinds of saag…from Notae to Pui and sometimes Kumro Saag and Lau Saag. Sojne Saag was cooked with kancha muger dal and served with rice, generally during the pox season, while methi saag was cooked with aloo… similarity -- both have a bitter taste.

With age all the fuss has gone and now I present the Mom figure for my children and see they eat the saag I cook at home. Spinach is readily available but for the other varieties have to depend on the CR Park market as this is known as mini Kolkata of the capital city of India.

The other day I cooked palang chorchori as there was nothing else in the fridge and I needed a vegetable dish for lunch. With rice, dal, tomato chutney a simple vegetarian dish would be a complete meal. Without wasting time I set off with my task of cooking.

All that I had:

Palang saag – 1 bunch
Pumpkin: a large left over piece
Potatoes: 2 small ones
Tomato: 1

For temperimg:

Panch phoron: 1 tsp
Whole dry red chilies: 2
Mustard oil: 1tbsp
Salt: to taste
Sugar: 1 tsp

How I did it:

First cut off the roots and discarded the leaves that had gone watery and soft.
Washed (three times) and then chopped the palang saag.
Peeled the sin of the potatoes and cut small dices.
After removing the skin of the pumpkin, cut it into pieces double the size of the potatoes as pumpkin cooks faster than the potatoes.
Cut the tomato into tiny pieces.

Next:

Heat oil in a kadhai.
Add the panch phoron and the red chillies breaking each into half and wait till the spices start popping and the red chillies give out the strong smell.
Add the saag, the vegetables and chopped tomatoes, give it a stir and cover with a lid.
Stir from time to time for a couple of minutes.
Add salt and sugar and cover it.
Simmer the flame.
Let it cook under low heat. The saag and salt leaves water which helps the vegetables to be cooked.
Once the potatoes are cooked it is time to increase the flame and let the water evaporate completely.
The saag is ready to be served with rice and dal or even with hot roti or paratha.

You can also use eggplant.
Garnish it with crushed deep fried bodi (vadi) before serving for extra taste (optional).