There are similarities between Greece and Pakistan, which I was surprised to find. One of them is people called Kafir-Kalash (black inhabitants of Kalash) who live in the Kalash Valley in Pakistan and are said to be descended from soldiers of Alexander the Great. Another is the use of certain words, for example, KIMA in Greek - minced, and KIMA in urdu and punjabi means the same thing. Only anglicized spelling is different. Other words are similar too.
One dish most people are familiar with is Saag , commonly found in Indian restaurants with potatoes, ( Aloo ) and found in the menu as saag aloo In Greece, there is a similar dish called Horta which is usually produced with mallow varieties, but which can be made with any wild green edible grass. Mallow is used when you have a plate in a tavern.
In pakistan Saag can be made with spinach or fresh fenugreek leaves ( Methi ), or the tops of a mule, in the Rawalpindi region, or, more often, near Lahore, with mustard greens. The choice of green leaf depends on the area in which you live. For example, fenugreek leaves are commonly used in and around Lahore, they are called Kasuri Mark but people do not cook them as a vegetable, they are used only as a flavoring. Another green leaf is called faluda and I think that this is a green leaf of vegetable oil from rape, but so far I have not been able to confirm this. In Lahore, it is not sold in vegetable stores.
Similarly, in Greece, if you know what to look for, there are a lot of green leaves that you can choose and use at home. Horta , An elderly man on the island of Evia, near mainland Greece, told me that during World War II he regularly went to choose Horta on the mountain, along with the rest of the village, and how they lived at this time almost starving. When I picked it, we collected dandelion leaves and other herbs in the winter months, just as the ancient Greeks used chervil, watercress and dandelions in salads as nutrients to get them in the winter months when there were few fresh green vegetables found .
Saag can be cooked using Swiss chard or Italian variety, or you can use any other green leaf, including amaranth leaves. The trick to sugar is to wash the leaves very thoroughly, in salt water, at least twice, and also chop the leaves.
SPINACH SAAG
Ingredients
1 kg of spinach
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 inch piece of ginger root, finely chopped
6 green chillies, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp. Kasuri sweep (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp. garam masala
salt and pepper for taste
1 cup butter
water
method
Cook the spinach in 2 glasses of water for 7 minutes. Strain and discard the water, and mix, or pound to a thick paste.
Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a saucepan and add garlic, ginger, cumin and thyme. Fry for 3 minutes, then add tomato, spinach, salt, pepper, kasuri, and garam masala, turmeric and glass water Cook for 5 minutes.
Heat the rest of the butter in a pan and put in onions and green chilies and fry for 5 minutes. Mix with spinach. Mix well, mix well and serve.
