Makke Ki Roti Sarson Ka Saag! Winters Just Got Better

Come December and you can get the smell of fresh greens and festive sweets. Winter is the gorging season. With so many seasonal vegetables and easy digestion, the winter calls for big celebration. The secret ingredient to this recipe is homemade butter, lots of it. So indulge and enjoy the greens of this season.

Sarson Ka Saag with Makke Ki Roti

Sarson ka saag and makke ki roti is a seasonal speciality of Punjab. This winter meal is very popular in North India. It is said that the saag should not be cooked after the winter harvest in Punjab, Lodi.  With freshly made butter sarson ka saag is traditionally eaten with makke ki roti. This is the short version of the recipe. Traditionally, sarson ka saag was made in the villages of Punjab with fresh greens from the fields. The mustard leaves along with other green leafy vegetables were cooked hours on a wood fire. The slow cooking on wood fire adds to the flavour of the greens. With this short version you can enjoy the goodness of the winters in Punjab with this yummy winter recipe.

Serves 2

Ingredients

Mustard Greens (Sarson ka saag), cleaned and blanched 4 cups

Spinach (Paalak), cleaned and blanched 4 cups

Bathua, cleaned and blanched 4 cups (chenopodium in English but the stores here label it as amaranth leaves)

Mustard Oil (Sarson ka tel) 3 tbspn

Garlic (lehsun), peeled 5 cloves, crushed and chopped

Onion (pyaz), chopped ½ cup

Tomatoes (tamatar), chopped 1 cup

Salt (namak) to taste

Asafoetida (hing) ½ tspn

Butter (makkhan) 2 tbspn

Method:

Grind the precooked mustard leaves, spinach and bathua together.
Heat 2 tbspn mustard oil in a pan till it begins to smoke. Allow the oil to cool a little, add in garlic and onion. Add in tomatoes once the onions turn translucent. Allow the tomatoes to cook until squishy.

Add in salt and the greens; allow them to cook on a low flame till it begins to leave the sides and the oil separates from the mixture. This will take approximately 20 minutes on low heat.

Heat 1 tbspn mustard oil to smoking point in a different pan. Allow the oil to cool and then add in asafoetida. Add this mixture to the sarson ka saag and stir. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve with butter and makke ki roti.

Makke Ki Roti

For 12 Rotis

Ingredients

Maize Flour (Makke ka atta) 1 cup

Whole Wheat Flour (Whole Wheat Flour) 1 cup

Salt (Namak) to taste

Vegetable oil (Tel) 3 tbspn.

Unsalted Butter (Makkhan) 1 tbspn.

Method:

On a flat surface, take maize flour and whole wheat flour and make a well in the centre.

Add in salt and approximately 1 cup water while mixing it in the flour with your fingers. Knead well and make dough. Rub in 1 tbspn. oil and knead again. Allow the dough to rest for a few minutes.

Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and round them up. Take each round, flatten it on a flat surface and dust with flour. Roll out the dough into thin discs, the size of your palm. Make sure they are even on all sides.

Heat a tawa or flat griddle and cook the roti on both sides. Smear it with some oil on both sides while cooking. Cook it till it gets little dark spots on either side.

Add in tablespoon of butter in both, the saag and the makke ki rotis for the yumminess factor.