The classic combination of mustard greens and spinach leaves cooked until creamy and served with a dollop of ghee. Paired with crispy and soft Makki or yellow cornmeal roti. This Makki di roti and Sarson da saag is a quintessential dish of Punjabi cuisine.
Clean and wash all green leafy vegetables thoroughly in water.
Boil the leafy greens in a saucepan with 1/2 tsp salt and roughly chopped ginger for about 15-20 minutes.
When cooled make a paste in a blender or with a hand blender.
Make a purée of tomatoes and green chilies in a blender.
Heat clarified butter in a heavy bottom pan or wok. Add asafetida and cumin seed.
Saute and add minced garlic cloves. Stir and cook until garlic is golden in color.
Add all spices and salt and mix well.
Now add tomato purée and sauté for 5 minutes. Add 1 tbsp of cornflour and mix quickly to avoid lumps formation.
Finally, Add purée of green leaves, stir and cover the lid. Let it cook on simmer or about 30 to 40 minutes. Frequent stirring is required but is careful as every time you open the lid it might splatter on your face.
When you see ghee comes out insides, remove from heat.
Makki di roti.
Take all ingredients for roti in a bowl, and knead a smooth dough using an appropriate amount of water. (knead the dough when you are ready to eat or serve or else it will break due to less adhesive strength of cornmeal).
Make 4 round balls, Dust your flat board with dry cornmeal.
Put one ball on board and dust again with dry flour over top. Gently press with hand to make a roti.
Slowly transfer the roti over a preheated nonstick pan ( Transfer it directly from board to pan, don’t use hand or it will break). Dab with your thumb and make indentations at few places to help cooking faster and even.
Roast from this side (apply some oil if seems sticky) for 3-4 minutes.
Flip the side carefully with spatula and roast for 3-4 minutes till it gets brown spots.
Remove from heat and serve with Sarson da saag and dollop of butter.
It can be enjoyed next day with a tempering of cumin seeds, garlic and asafetida in clarified butter.
Notes
To make the saag make sure to wash the leafy greens thoroughly.
You could use the pressure cooker or instant pot to cook the leaves.
Make sure to cook it on low and be careful while stirring, it has a tendency to splatter.
Adjust the spices as per your taste.
To make the makki roti, you could also make it directly on the tawa. Flatten the ball on tawa with your palm, make indentations, and cook on low heat.
If the heat is high there are possibilities that the makki roti won't cook properly on the inside.