Buttery Spinach, or Sak

Sak is spinach that died and went to heaven.  Glorious, buttery, surge-in-your-mouth flavor with crunches and pops heaven.  This is the dish for which we stockpile our CSA greens and salivate days in advance (okay, maybe that’s just me).  Yes, it takes a little time.  Yes, it involves a few more steps than just sauteing your greens.  But every bite is so worth the work.

Although sak is traditionally made with spinach (because apparently it’s one of the very few greens that can grow successfully in southern India, where the heat generally wilts salad greens), we’ve successfully made it with chard and kale, both independently and in various mixtures.  The kale flavor does still come through very slightly, but balances very nicely with the other flavors in the dish.

I apologize that there are no photos at this point in time.  There’s a bag of spinach and one of braising greens currently in our fridge that will be sak within the week, so a photo update will be coming in time.

Buttery Spinach, or Sak

Adapted from Lord Krishna’s Cuisine (previously reviewed).

 Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2 (if you’re Dani and James), 4 if you pre-portion it so that it doesn’t disappear via the cook’s “oh, just one more bite”

 2 pounds fresh spinach, chard, or kale, trimmed and washed (though we’ve successfully used baby spinach with just a minimal wash, which really reduces the prep time)

5 tbsp. ghee or unsalted butter (oil just don’t really work for this, though you might try oil with a few pats of Smart Balance at the end?)

2 hot green chilies, cored, seeded, and slivered (these really don’t add much heat at all)

2  inch piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and cut into thin julienne

2 whole cloves, crushed

¼ tsp. each: fennel seeds, black mustard seeds, and cumin seeds, crushed (black mustard seeds are easy to find at an Indian grocery store)

1 tsp. salt

¼ c. raw cashew bits

1/3 c dried currants, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, drained and dried on paper towels (you can use raisins in a pinch, but it’s not really the same flavor)

½ tsp. garam masala

Lemon or lime twists (optional, but highly recommended)

 Plunge the spinach into a large pot of salted boiling water.  Cook for 8 minutes (kale takes about 9-10 minutes).  Drain in a colander, pressing firmly with the back of a spoon to extract as much water as possible, then chop on a cutting board.

 Melt 2 ½ tbsp. ghee in a wide heavy casserole or sauté pan over moderate heat.  Add the green chilies, ginger, cloves, and spice seeds, and fry for about 1 minute.  Stir in the greens and heat through.  Cover and set aside.

 Heat the remaining ghee (2 ½ tbsp.) in a small fry pan over moderately low heat.  Toss in the cashew bits and fry, stirring constantly, until they begin to color.  Add the currants and continue to fry until they plump and brown (they will actually turn brown).  Remove the pan from the heat.  Stir in the garam masala then pour the contents over the spinach.  Finish with lemon or lime twists if desired.