February 27, 2013: Using a giant cooking pot, Partap Singh, the main cook at the Tierra Buena Sikh Temple, can make a thousand or more servings of sarson ka saag, a vegetarian curry made with mustard greens.
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Partap Singh adds cooked and pureed mustard greens to a sauteed base of
garlic, ginger, onion, salt, pepper and chili as he prepares saag, a vegetarian curry, in the kitchen of the Tierra Buena Sikh Temple. Laura van der Meer/Appeal-Democrat |
Partap Singh has worked in the kitchen of the Tierra Buena Sikh Temple for 13 years. Laura van der Meer/Appeal-Democrat |
“A lot of people admire his cooking,” Tejinder Singh Dosanjh, one of the directors at the temple, said of Singh’s culinary works. “He can make 10 different dishes in the time it takes to make the saag. It takes time.”
Singh has worked inside the temple’s kitchen for 13 years. When preparing the time-heavy saag at the temple kitchen, he uses an industrial-sized, hand-held food processor to blend the ingredients.
When it gets time to add the corn flour to the mix to thicken it, Dosanjh suggests sprinkling it on top, slowly, rather than adding it all at once.
“Once it gets cooked in, make it more tasty by adding garlic, ginger, onion, salt and pepper and chili,” Dosanjh said.
Singh said that part of the cooking process – adding spices at the end – is the secret to making the saag taste good.
Dosanjh also suggests making saag more flavorful by adding spinach or broccoli. The Indian tradition is to serve the saag with butter, he said.
“The mustard has iron in it; it’s good for health,” Dosanjh said.
Karin Vastola of Yuba City is a friend of the temple and said she comes to the gurdwara to meditate and to eat. saag made in the temple kitchen is among her favorite dishes.
“To me, it nourishes the soul. I eat it all day long. It has its very own distinct flavor,” Vastola said.
Sunita Nakhwal, owner of Punjab Bazaar in Yuba City, said there are different varieties of mustard greens – including Indian and Asian – but that any kind can be used to make saag.
Dosanjh said most saag dishes are made with Indian mustard, also called Desi mustard, and recommends using the stems from the mustard greens for the dish. However, he said, saag shouldn’t be made with wild mustard because it leaves a bitter taste.
“You want to make sure the plants are tender,” Dosanjh said.
The dish is typically served with makki ki roti, a Punjabi flatbread made with corn flour.