By Ujjainee Roy
December 9th, 2023
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Do you love leafy greens on your plate? Try exploring lesser-known saag varieties from across the India and incorporating them into your daily homecooked recipes. Here are some lesser-known saag that you should know about
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Bathua, also known as pigweed or Chenopodium album, is a leafy green commonly found in North India and is cooked with spices like cumin, coriander, and mustard.
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Pui Saag or Malabar spinach is is a green leafy vegetable native to the eastern parts of India. It is widely used in Odia and Bengali cuisine and is prepared with mustard paste, garlic, and sometimes a hint of coconut.
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Gongura, also known as sorrel leaves, is a sour leafy green used in Andhra cuisine. Gongura Pappu is a dal dish where gongura leaves are combined with lentils and spices to create a tangy and flavorful preparation.
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Lal Saag, also known as red spinach, is used to prepare a saag dish in some regions of India. It is cooked with traditional spices and often served with makki ki roti.
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Widely known as water spinach, kolmi saag is mainly eaten across Eastern India. It has a mild nutty flavour; once the young seeds and stalks develop they acquire a natural sweetness
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Kochu Shaak essentially refers to colocasia leaves and stems. Its cooked version is a popular preparation in Bengali cuisine and is often seasoned with mustard paste for a distinctive flavour.
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Keerai is mainly used to make a dish called Keerai Masiyal, a Tamil dish where various leafy greens are cooked and mashed. It's seasoned with mustard, urad dal, and red chillies.
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Fiddleheads are mainly grown across Northern India. In Tripura they're known as 'muikhonchok'. They are sweet and grassy like asparagus and are usually paired with eggs
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