A dish that is a combination of authenticity, culture, health, simplicity and a hundred other things.
I can proudly say that an Odia vegetarian meal is incomplete without a super simple, delicious, fibrous saaga bhaja. The word saaga stands for any kind of spinach (leafy vegetable). When it comes to making varieties of saaga dishes, Odias know their ways. Since my childhood, I have probably seen my mother make saaga almost every single day. I would be fortunate if I could cover at least 50% of what she makes. We make it accompanied with other vegetables like potatoes, pumpkin, eggplant, radish etc. or just the saaga on its own ith minimal seasoning or one of the most preferred ways of making saga is when it’s accompanied with crunchy badhis. Badhis are cute little dried lentil balls that are fried and used in various traditional Odia preparations.
Around one or two centuries back, Odisha was mostly filled with farmers. And getting their hands on to leafy vegetables was extremely pocket friendly, and at times even free. Hence, saaga dishes are also made from the leaves of radish, cauliflower, pumpkin, and even bitter gourd. But now it feels like today’s generation is just not aware of many vegetables and dishes that are actually going extinct. People look at me with surprise whenever I ask for these leftover leaves that are just waste for others in the vegetable shops. My vegetable shop guy would often ask me if I have a rabbit at home. Haha, I say I do have a cat at home but unfortunately, she only likes to eat fish. So, as I have found some cauliflower leaves from the market today let’s begin and learn how to make cauliflower leaf sabji/ kobi dentha saaga bhaja.
Prep time | 30-40 mins
Cooking time | 30 mins
Difficulty level | beginner-intermediate
Base Ingredients
Cauliflower leaves, 12 to 15 units, large
Potato 1, medium, cut into medium size cubes
Salt to taste,
Turmeric powder, 1tbsp
Tempering Ingredients
Mustard oil 2 tbsp
Pancha Phutana (Odia 5 spice), 1 tbsp
Green chillies 2, slit
Dried red chilli large 2, broken
Onion 1, medium, chopped
Garlic 6 to 8 cloves, crushed
Tomato 1, medium, chopped
The first step is to chop the cauliflower leaves. There is a particular way that the leaves need to be cut in. Please refer to the video for detailed instructions.
Once the leaves are chopped, wash them thoroughly. Place a pan on medium-high heat. Add the chopped leaves and the potatoes onto the pan with 1/4th cup of water. As the leaves drain water on their own, ensure to limit the water you add separately to the pan. Add salt to taste, turmeric powder and cover the lid. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until the leaves are soft and potatoes are cooked.
Remove the boiled leaves from the pan and set the pan on the stove again for tempering. Wait for the pan to get really hot and then add the mustard oil. Once the oil is hot, throw in some pancha phutana. Let it splatter and then add the green chillies and dried red chillies. Fry them for a minute and then add the chopped onions. Once the onions turn translucent, add the crushed garlic. Once the raw smell of the garlic goes away, add chopped tomatoes. You can cover the lid for the tomatoes to cook faster.
Once the tomatoes are done, add the boiled leaves and potatoes. Fry until all the water from this saaga is evaporated. Serve it hot with dal, rice or hot chapatis.
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