Haakh – A staple Kashmiri dish. It usually means the local greens from mustard family, but collard greens are a good substitute. These greens are simply cooked, yet taste heavenly. This can be made with kohlrabi greens, gai lan and spinach as well. In Kashmir we use the Kohl Rabi greens and Haakh .. something that resembles the Kai Lan greens. The greens are called Haakh and the Dish is called Haakh as well.
There is something heavenly about simply cooked green leafy vegetables. It always has a warmth and a nourishing vibe. No wonder then, it is such a well loved dish in the whole vale of Kashmir.
Koshur Haakh – Collard greens cooked in Kashmiri style are best eaten fresh off the stove. They need to be a bit crunchy and have a nice texture and mouthfeel to them. Cooking collards is not as tricky as cooking other greens because you have a little bandwidth to not overcook them. You can cook them a little longer without risking overcooking.
Traditionally, in Kashmir, it is staple dish. Like pasta. You would eat it every single day and not get tired of it. If Roganjosh is the star of the special occasion dishes, Haakh is the star of everyday meals and then the star of special occasion meals.
Haakh – Collard Greens Kashmiri Style
Ingredients
- A bunch of greens [I used collard Greens]
- 1 tsp oil
- a pinch of heeng
- a few green/red chllies
- 1 +1/2 cup of hot water
- Salt as per taste
Instructions
- Instructions :-
- Wash the greens well and set aside to drain
- Cut the greens in broad strips
- heat oil
- Add heeng
- add chillies
- Add the water and bring it to a boil
- Add the greens
- stir once or twice
- Add salt.
- Let it cook, uncovered for about 7- 10 minutes on med high heat or until the greens are tender. [ You can do this in a pressure cooker. Reduce water to one cup in that case and cook on high heat for 4 minutes]
- Eat with rice and some plain yogurt