In this simple dish of Kashmiri style collard greens, or haak, the leafy greens are simmered with tomatoes and spices until deliciously tender.
If you were invited to dinner at a Kashmiri home, you'd very likely find a dish like this Kashmiri haak on the table. It features collard greens, a leafy vegetable beloved in this region, simmered with spices and tomatoes and served over rice.
Haak, in Kashmir, is a collective term for leafy greens that are consumed locally, including brassica greens like collards, kale and Brussels sprouts greens, radish greens and dandelion greens. Most haak dishes tend to be simple, featuring signature spices used in this region like asafetida (hing), fennel seed (saunf), ground ginger (sonth) and the deep-red but mildly spicy Kashmiri chilli powder.
The flavor profile created by this combination of ingredients is quite unlike anything you'd eat across the rest of India or Pakistan and it is well worth savoring. I love the vibrant flavors of Kashmiri food, and I recently shared with you my vegan rogan josh recipe (which, incidentally, would make a great accompaniment to this collard greens dish).
The collard greens do take a while to cook, but blanching them first helps cut down on that time and also helps the greens retain their deep color. When cooked, the collard greens are tender but not mushy, with a satisfying bite. It's a vegetable dish to fall in love with.
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Why you will love this recipe
- Nourishing and delicious. It's a good idea to incorporate a variety of greens into your daily diet and collard greens are amazing in simple recipes like vegan southern-style collard greens and vegan Portuguese caldo verde. Cooking up uniquely different dishes with collards, like this Kashmiri haak, makes me want to eat them more often!
- Simple recipe. This is an extremely simple recipe with few ingredients and most of the time needed is hands-off time to let the collards cook and tenderize.
- Allergy-friendly. The recipe is soy-free, nut-free, gluten-free and vegan.
Ingredients
- Collard greens. The greens used in Kashmir are usually much younger and smaller than the very large collard leaves we get here in the United States. Kashmiri cooks typically use the small leaves whole but I trim the collards I get here of their tough stems and then cut them into long, thin strips. This makes the larger leaves easier to cook and consume.
- Spices: asafetida (hing), ground fennel, ground ginger, turmeric, garam masala and Kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika. You need a red pepper powder that's got great color but not too much heat).
- Onions. Red onions are preferred, but you can use white or yellow onions if that's what you have.
- Garlic
- Tomato. Puree the tomato before using, or cut it into very small pieces.
How to cook Kashmiri collard greens
Place the collard greens in boiling hot water. Let the collards cook eight minutes, then place them in a strainer to drain out all the water. Rinse the collard greens in cool, running water. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add asafetida. Saute for 30 seconds.
Add onions and garlic to the pan. Add ½ teaspoon salt and saute until the onions are very soft.
Stir in the pureed tomato.
Add the spices to the pan: turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika), ground ginger and ground fennel.
Mix the spices into the garlic, tomato and onions in pan and continue to saute for five more minutes.
Add a cup of hot water to the pan and let it come to a boil.
Stir in the blanched, drained collard greens and mix them in. Bring the collards to a boil, then turn heat to a simmer and let the collard greens cook, covered, for 20-30 minutes or until they are quite tender but have a good bite. You can tweak this to your preference--let the collards cook longer for more tender greens.
Stir in the garam masala and mix it in. You can add more hot water at this point if most of the water has evaporated.
Continue to cook the collards for another five minutes. Add salt to taste. Turn off heat and serve hot.
Top tips
- Kashmiris use mustard oil to make this recipe and if you can source mustard oil you can use it here because it adds amazing, authentic flavor. Most of the mustard oil sold in the U.S. is labeled as being "for external use only" because of the high erucic acid in mustard oil that's been linked with cancer of the gallbladder. I use it only very occasionally in recipes where it helps add flavor and I'd advise that if you do use mustard oil, do your research and use it at your own discretion.
- You can substitute other greens in this recipe, including radish greens, kale, and the tender leaves of Brussels sprouts (these are different from the sprouts themselves). If you use spinach, you don't need to blanch it first.
Serving suggestions
- The collard greens are delicious served over plain basmati rice.
- You can skip making yet another vegetable side, but I like serving the Kashmiri haak with a simple potato sabzi like Bombay potatoes or jeera aloo.
- Serve it with a plain dal, like tomato dal or moong dal.
Storage instructions
- Refrigerate: Store the collard greens in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
- Freeze: The collard greens can be frozen in a freezer-safe container for up to three days.
- Thaw and reheat: Thaw the collard greens and reheat in microwave or on the stovetop before serving.
More Indian style recipes with leafy greens
Kashmiri Collard Greens
Equipment
- Saute pan or skillet
Ingredients
- 10 large leaves collard greens (stems removed, then rolled up and cut into long, skinny ribbons)
- 1 teaspoon avocado oil or any neutral oil (see tips above if you want to use mustard oil for a more authentic flavor).
- ½ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 large red onion (thinly sliced)
- 4 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 1 large tomato (pureed or cut in a small dice)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon Kashmiri chili powder (or sweet paprika)
- 1 tablespoon ground fennel
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- 1-2 cups hot water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Place the collard greens in boiling hot water. Let the collards cook eight minutes, then place them in a strainer to drain out all the water. Rinse the collard greens in cool, running water. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and add asafetida. Saute for 30 seconds.
- Add onions and garlic to the pan. Add ½ teaspoon salt and saute until the onions are very soft. Stir in the pureed tomato.
- Add the spices to the pan: turmeric, Kashmiri chilli powder (or paprika), ground ginger and ground fennel.
- Mix the spices into the garlic, tomato and onions in pan and continue to saute for five more minutes.
- Add a cup of hot water to the pan and let it come to a boil. Stir in the blanched, drained collard greens and mix them in. Bring the collards to a boil, then turn heat to a simmer and let the collard greens cook, covered, for 20-30 minutes or until they are quite tender but have a good bite. You can tweak this to your preference--let the collards cook longer for more tender greens.
- Stir in the garam masala and mix it in. You can add ½ to 1 cup more hot water at this point if most of the water has evaporated.
- Continue to cook the collards for another five minutes. Add salt to taste. Turn off heat and serve hot.
Kel BasAvraham
As a Southern born and bred, I love collard in all their myriad forms and incarnations! This recipe will serve very nicely as an addition to my vegan collection! Thanks...and I'll post any updates, should I do any tinkering, which is likely, since friends point out I can't leave well enough alone!
Katherine
I made this, with a few minor modifications, with the collard greens that came in my farm box. Wow, it was fantastic! Not a bit like the cornbread and turnip greens of my youth. I served it with Southern Polenta - that is to say, grits. It seemed appropriate, and it went really well.
Girdharilal Kuchroo
where collard green in mumbai
Vani H
looks delicious! You can probably substitute Kale for the collard greens too.
Vani
Looks yum, Vaishali! I hated all greens when I was younger. Now I love 'em all! 🙂