Recipe Name – Pind Style ~ Sarson ka saag aur Makki ki Roti
Introduction – Sarson ka saag and makki ki roti is a classic Punjabi dish and cooked all over north India during winter season. This lovely dish is not only healthy but soul satisfying food. In this recipe, I have captured the method which is used in the villages (pind) of Punjab in order to achieve that same authentic flavor. You must try this hearty dish this winter.
What all do we need?
- Sarson Saag (Mustard Green) – 600 gm
- Bathua saag (Chenopodium album) – 200 gm
- Palak (spinach) – 200 gm
- 3-4 medium size onion
- 2 inch ginger
- 5-6 garlic pods
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tablespoon Coriander powder
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (mixed spices)
- 1 tablespoon red chili powder
- Salt as per taste
- Makki ka aata (corn flour)
- Mustard oil
- 1 teaspoon Mustard seeds/2 whole dry red chili/4-5 chopped garlic & ¼ teaspoon asafetida for tempering
Method –
- Wash & clean green leafy vegetables properly.
- Then chop all green leafy vegetables and also chop onion, ginger & garlic using knife or food processor.
- Take deep cooking pan, put all green leafy vegetables and onion, ginger, garlic mix in it and add hot boiling water with salt (as per taste).
- Once saag (greens) starts boiling, add all dried spices excluding asafetida, mix and cover the lid for saag to cook on medium low flame.
- In the meantime, knead the corn flour dough with small amount of salt & water and keep it aside to rest.
- Keep on meshing the greens using steel masher or mathni (wooden churner) so that all greens are mixed properly.
- After 30 min, add 3-4 tablespoon corn flour in the green and mix well and ensure to use masher so that there are no lumps of corn flour in the greens.
- Greens will take approximately 45 min to 1 hour to cook properly and to come at the consistency needed.
- Once green are cooked and mashed well, time to temper it.
- Heat mustard oil in the pan. Once hot enough, add 1 teaspoon mustard seeds, 2 dried red chilies, some chopped garlic pods, asafetida and then add cooked saag (greens).
- Mix everything well and let saag cook for another 5 minutes.
- Now it’s time to make corn flour flat bread (makki ki roti).
- Put the iron tawa (skillet or griddle) on gas so that it is hot enough when we start making corn flour flat bread.
- Take a parchment paper or butter paper on rolling board, start spreading small amount of kneaded corn flour dough using hands. Make roti (flat bread) of 4 inch diameter and ½ cm thickness. Use splash on water on hands while spreading the bread.
- Now put this corn flour flat bread on hot skillet and let it get cooked. Once you see those dark spots on one side, flip it for other side to also get cooked properly.
- Now put the flat bread on direct heat using tongs and get the brown spots on both sides.
- Now spread ghee (clarified butter) on the cooked corn flour flat bread to keep it moist.
- Serve hot saag (greens) topped with generous amount of white butter and makki ki roti (corn flour flat bread).
- Enjoy this lovely, hearty recipe in winters.
Tips:
- Do not pressure cook the saag, it has to be cooked and mashed together to get that nice consistency.
- If possible cook saag and roti on earthen stoke (chulha) or charcoal stove to get that authentic flavor.
- Corn flour is little tricky to handle so ensure to use butter or parchment paper for spread it using hands.
- Proportion of greens: Bathua (Chenopodium album) & Palak (spinach) will be 1/3 of mustard greens.