Red Amaranth - Lal saag from traditional Bengali kitchen

A very basic item in the traditional Bengali kitchen was the ‘saag’ which refers to common leafy green vegetables found in the Indian subcontinent normally eaten at the beginning of a lunch or dinner. These leafy vegetable dishes are traditionally very popular in Bengal, Odisha and Assam region. The word saag is derived from the Sanskrit word shaak (śāka) meaning leafy green vegetables. A traditional Bengali platter would start with a dish comprising of ‘saag bhaja’ or fried leafy portions of vegetables complimented by ghee or kasundi. I have also found this in Odisha, eateries normally serve this at the beginning of a lunch accompanied by ‘badi chuda’ or crumbled lentil dumplings. There are varieties of ‘saags’ consumed in Bengal, the common ones are – spinach or ‘Palong’ in Bengali, water-spinach or ‘Kolmi’, Amaranth or Lal saag, Pumpkin leaves or ‘kumro saag’, Bottle gourd leaves or ‘Lau saag’.

‘Lal saag’ or Amaranth has always been a common ‘saag’ in the Bengali kitchen. It turns the white rice to red when mixed together. It is popular not only in Bengali kitchens but it is also tremendously popular in the eastern states of India. Here’s a recipe for cooking the ‘Lal saag’.

Ingredients:

Red Amaranth - 3-4 cups fresh, washed under running water, cleaned and chopped. Unless washed properly, it contains the soil or sand particles from the ground where it is grown.

Potato – 1, peeled and cubed small

Green chillies - 2-3

Dry red chilli - 1

Nigella seeds -1 tsp

Poppy Seeds – 10 g

Salt to taste

Sugar to taste

Mustard oil – 2 tbsp

Lentil dumplings or ‘bori’ – 10 fried (optional)

Instructions:

At first chop the leaves finely. Also chop a potato into small cubes.

Take a wok and add the mustard oil and heat it till it smokes. Reduce the flame.

Add the nigella seeds, one dry red chilli and one slit green chilli in the hot oil. Let them splutter for a few seconds and then add the chopped potato and fry till they are lightly golden in colour.

Now add the chopped leaves/saag and mix them well. Cook it well till the leaves/saag is dried up and cooked completely. Now add the salt and little sugar as the dish should taste a little sweet.

Just before switching off the heat, sprinkle little poppy seeds on the saag and mix well.

Ideally ‘daal bori’/lentil raw dumplings are also fried and crumbled to the saag, this enhances the taste.

Try with steaming hot rice and kasundi or ghee.