Makki di Roti & Sarson da Saag

Nothing says Punjabi winter like sarson da saag and makki di roti. Mustard greens are cooked for a long time with spinach and a little cornmeal until silky, then finished with a ghee tadka of garlic, ginger and onion. The rotis are made from fine yellow maize flour (makki atta) – in Austria, fine 'Maismehl' (not polenta, not pre-cooked arepa flour) works best.

Video by Your Food Lab on YouTube. Our recipe below is our own home-style version, written in our own words – quantities and steps may differ from the video.

• Serves 4
• Prep 30 min
• Cook 90 min
• Vegetarian · gluten-free
• Famous in Punjab

Ingredients

• For the saag: 500 g mustard greens (Senfblätter / Senfkohl), 250 g spinach, 100 g bathua or more spinach, 2 green chillies, 3 cm ginger, 6 garlic cloves, 1 tsp salt, 2 tbsp makki atta
• For the tadka: 3 tbsp ghee, 1 onion chopped, 1 tbsp ginger-garlic chopped, 1 tomato chopped (optional), ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
• For the rotis: 250 g fine yellow maize flour (makki atta), ½ tsp salt, warm water, ghee
• white butter and jaggery to serve

Method

1. Wash and chop the greens. Cook them with chillies, ginger, garlic, salt and 300 ml water, covered, for 40–45 minutes until very soft.
2. Blend or mash coarsely with a wooden masher. Whisk the makki atta into a little water, stir in and simmer 20–30 minutes more, stirring now and then.
3. For the tadka, heat ghee, fry onion and ginger-garlic until golden, add tomato and chilli and cook 3 minutes. Pour over the saag.
4. For the rotis, knead each portion of maize flour with warm water and salt just before shaping. Pat between wet palms or on plastic to a thick round, cook on a hot tawa on both sides and brush with ghee.
5. Serve the saag with a big spoon of white butter, makki di roti, jaggery and a glass of lassi.

Tip: The saag tastes even better the next day – make a big batch.

Shop the ingredients

Everything you need for this recipe is in stock at Farmah’s – order online or pick it up at Annenstraße 41, Graz.