Kashmiri Collard Greens Haak

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.

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

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.