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Award-winning chef, author and forager Alan Bergo. Food is all around you.

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Traditional Saag Paneer with Amaranth Greens

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Saag paneer with foraged amaranth recipeWild greens simmered with coconut milk, garlic, tumeric, ginger, spices and hot chilis topped with fried cheese? Please, and thank you.

I was trained to make classic French and European food, but the more I work with ingredients I harvest, the less my teaching helps me. Basically, from my experience, Anglo-Saxon or European cultures don’t have anything close to the reverence that other cultures do for leafy green plants. As my diet includes a lot of wild plants, this has forced me to cook out of my comfort zone a bit, and it’s been a really good journey for me as a cook.

A traditional recipe for amaranth greens

This is a pretty simple recipe, and one that there are a lot of versions for online. The reason it was on my short list of things to make is that I see a lot of versions of saag paneer, and various other saags, using amaranth. From what I’ve read, you could put amaranth in any recipe that starts with the word “saag”, which is basically a catch-all term for greens.

Saag Paneer with amaranth

Pounding spices for the curry, you can use a food processor too.

In the U.S., it seems to me like we rarely have dishes that specifically call for a particular plant besides the occasional discussions of what type of lettuce goes into a wedge (for the record I like gem or iceberg). So, anytime I find traces of what could be a dish that evolved around, or traditionally calls for a particular green, especially a maligned and/or foraged one like amaranth, I take notice.

If you haven’t had it (I hadn’t until I worked through a couple variations) Saag Paneer is basically curried greens, with some sauteed or stewed cheese nuggets. It sounds good, and it is, which is why you can find it everywhere in the ready-to-reheat frozen aisle at pretty much every grocery store. The only problem is that it’s, well, kinda ugly.

Flatbread for an amaranth saag paneer
Some flat bread, or another bread-based utensil is good for scooping up the greens.
Saag paneer with foraged amaranth recipe
Scoop’n’serve

Whenever I make something out of my wheelhouse, like last year when I made a video on cooking Nigerian goat pepper soup, I take a look at a lot of different recipes, identify similarities, ditch what I don’t like and go from there.

Versions with pureed greens

With saag paneer, there was one thing I saw a lot of recipes call for that I knew I would not do: puree the greens and cook them again. It may be traditional in some places but, for me, part of the interest of eating greens I forage is the unique texture of each one.

Edible Wild Green Amaranth Amaranthus retroflexus_

Big juicy stems! If your amaranth is older you might peel the stalks, but I often find the whole plant is tender enough to toss in the pan chopped up.

For example, common amaranth (Amaranthus retroflexus) has delicious, thick & tender stems (when picked at the right time) that give it some good weight compared to other greens, most notably it’s cousin lamb’s quarter.

A workhorse recipe for all those foraged greens 

Even so, you can, and should use all kinds of foraged greens for this, and cultivated ones too. At the end of the day it’s really just a workhorse recipe for using up the bounty of wild greens that plant hunters end up with during the season, or if you’re like me and like to keep them in the freezer, the  Winter and off-season.

Foraged caraway seedWild caraway seed

A lot of times, an aromatic seed is sauteed with the aromatics before the greens are added, usually it’s cumin or mustard seeds, but since I had some, I opted for wild caraway in my last batch, which was a great variation. Adding the whole seeds gives you a little pop here and there-a lot more exciting than just adding a powdered seasoning.

Whatever you make it with, the recipe I’ve developed here is a great one to hang onto for whenever you get a craving for greens. Try it sometime you’re in the mood for some mildly spicy curry.

Saag paneer with foraged amaranth recipe

Saag paneer with foraged amaranth recipe
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Traditional Saag Paneer with Amaranth Greens

A rich, spicy curry made with amaranth greens and mild paneer cheese.

Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: Amaranth, Curry, Paneer, Saag

Ingredients

  • 1 lb fresh or blanched and frozen amaranth
  • 1 16 oz can coconut milk high fat
  • 1 tablespoon minced ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 tablespoon minced fresh tumeric optional
  • 1 small onion finely chopped to yield 1 cup
  • 1 teaspoon garum masala I buy mine in bulk from a coop
  • 1-2 whole serrano chilis with seeds (1 for a mild dish, 2 for hot)
  • 1/8 teaspoon wild caraway or conventional caraway or cumin seeds toasted
  • 8 oz paneer cheese cut into small rectangles or cubes (optional, and halloumi can be substituted)
  • Kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup ghee coconut oil, or lard

Instructions

  • If your amaranth greens are raw, blanch it in salted water for a few seconds until wilted, then shock in an ice bath to chill. Remove the amaranth greens, squeeze out the water, and coarsely chop. You want the greens to hold some texture, but they should be able to fit on a spoon-just look out for long stems.
  • In a food processor, or in a mortar and pestle, coarsely pulse or pound 1 teaspoon of salt with the serrano, garlic, ginger, onion and tumeric until coarse-fine.
  • Add the ground aromatics with the oil to a large cast iron skillet and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the caraway and garum masala and cook 5 minutes more.
  • Add the coconut milk, and amaranth and simmer until the mixture is thickened slightly, about 10 minutes, it should be spoonable, but not soupy. Meanwhile, quickly pan fry the cheese on one side only, as overcooking can make them tough. You can also just warm them up in the greens when you add the coconut milk, but it isn't as pretty.
  • Double check the seasoning for salt, adjust as needed, then serve immediately with rice or flatbread.

More 

Foraging and Cooking with Amaranth Greens 

Saag paneer with foraged amaranth recipe

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Aj

    January 5, 2019 at 12:15 pm

    Nettles also make a wonderful saag.

    Reply
  2. Ellen Zachos

    January 5, 2019 at 1:47 pm

    I’ve been on a wild greens kick lately and this is inspiring, thanks! I wonder if cow parsnip seed would be too delicate to substitute for caraway. What do you think?

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      January 5, 2019 at 3:15 pm

      Hey Ellen. Personally, I think cow parnsip seeds are too tough to eat after drying, and part of why the seeds are good in this is that they’re whole, and give a pop here and there, so I would use cumin.

      Reply
  3. Jacqui

    January 6, 2019 at 6:16 am

    I use mature, dried European hogweed seeds (the equivalent of your cow parsnip) a lot in curries and soups. They are pretty fibrous, indeed, but I don’t find this a problem… But this summer I froze a jar of green hogweed seeds (in case I needed to put them in vodka later in the year :-))). The flavour is different from the mature dried seeds with a sort of menthol punch (a bit like caraway). The flavour really compliments green tomatoes (I put them in chutney) and I think it would work for this recipe. Seriously, try the green seeds next season … and they freeze well.

    Reply
    • Alan Bergo

      January 6, 2019 at 2:49 pm

      Hey Jacqui. Nice work playing around with the green hogweed seeds, I started talking with a chef friend of mine this year and we were sharing our experiences working with green seeds, cow parsnip was one of them, along with angelica and wild caraway. Freezing is one option I didn’t think of, I, of course made it more complicated than it needed to be and assumed I needed to brine them, which I’ve found only works with some green seeds (coriander not being one). The cow parsnip seeds had a great flavor green, less soapy IMO, but I still found myself trying to tame it a little by blanching. I’ll have to try freezing green ones this year. I would agree their green seeds might be good in curries, another thing to try. Thanks again.

      Reply
  4. Jacqui

    January 7, 2019 at 12:39 am

    My friend with the restaurant pickled some green seeds that she uses in small quantities sort of the way one would use capers. They pack a punch,

    Reply

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FORAGER | CHEF®
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Author: The Forager Chef’s Book of Flora
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Alan Bergo
HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mul HALP! I’ve been keeping an eye on two loaded mulberry trees and both got a bunch of fruit knocked down by the storms and wind. 

If anyone in West WI or around the Twin Cities knows of some trees, (ideally on private property but beggars can’t be choosers) that I could climb and shake with a tarp underneath, shoot me a DM and let’s pick some! 🤙😄

TIA

#throwadogabone #mansquirrel #beattlefruit #mulberries #shakintrees
Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of t Lampascioni, or edible hyacinth bulbs are one of the more interesting things I’ve eaten. 

These are an ancient wild food traditionally harvested in Southern Italy, especially in Puglia and the Salentine Peninsula, as well as Greece and Crete. I’ve seen at least 6-7 different names for them. 

A couple different species are eaten, but Leopoldia comosa is probably the one I see mentioned the most. They also grow wild in North America. 

The bulbs are toxic raw, but edible after an extended boil. Traditionally they’re preserved in vinegar and oil, pickled, or preserves in other methods using acid and served as antipasti. (Two versions in pic 3). 

They’re one of the most heavily documented traditional wild foods I’ve seen. There’s a few shots of book excerpts here.

The Oxford companion to Italian Food says you can eat them raw-don’t do that. 

Even after pickling, the bulbs are aggressively extremely bitter. Definitely an acquired taste, but one that’s grown on me. 

#traditionalfoods #vampagioli #lampascione #cucinapovera #lampascioni #leopoldiacomosa #foraging
Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke Went to some new spots yesterday looking for poke sallet and didn’t do too well (I’m at the tip of its range). I did see some feral horseradish though which I don’t see very often. 

Just like wild parsnip, this is the exact same plant you see in the store and garden-just escaped. 

During the growing season the leaves can be good when young. 

They have an aggressive taste bitter enough to scare your loved ones. Excellent in a blend of greens cooked until extra soft, preferably with bacon or similar. 

For reference, you don’t harvest the root while the plant is growing as they’ll be soft and unappealing-do that in the spring or fall. This is essentially the same as when people tell you to harvest in months that have an R in them. 

#amoraciarusticana #foraging #horseradishleaves #horseradish #bittergreens
In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo In Italy chicken of the woods is known as “fungo del carrubo” (carob tree mushroom) as it’s one of the common tree hosts there. 

My favorite, and really the only traditional recipe I’ve found for them so far is simmered in a spicy tomato sauce with hot chile and capers, served with grilled bread. 

Here I add herbs too: fresh leaves of bee balm that are perfect for harvesting right now and have a flavor similar to oregano and thyme. 

Makes a really good side dish or app, especially if you shower it with a handful of pecorino before scooping it up with the bread. 

#chickenofthewoods #fungodelcarrubo #allthemushroomtags #traditionalfoods #beebalm
First of the year 😁. White-pored chicken of t First of the year 😁. 

White-pored chicken of the woods (Laetiporus cincinnatus) are my favorite chicken. 

Superior bug resistance, slightly better flavor + texture. They also stay tender longer compared to their more common yellow-pored cousins. Not a single bug in this guy. 

#treemeat #ifoundfood #foraging #laetiporuscincinnatus #chickenofthewoods
TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with @jesseroes TBT brisket face 💦. Staff meal with 
@jesseroesler and crew @campwandawega
📸 @misterberndt 

#staffmeal #brisket #meatsweats #naptime
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