Sarson ka Saag and Makki ki Roti (Indian greens with corn flatbreads)

At least 3 of my top 10 favorite foods are some form of cooked greens, and among them is definitely and inarguabley Sarson ka Saag. It's a North Indian preparation that takes a little time to cook, unless you have a pressure cooker, but is well worth it. Paired up with some Makki ki Roti (Indian arepas) and a little bit of Indian pickle, it makes a WONDERFUL and very healthy meal.

When making this you can definitely use fresh spinach, and its ….probably... better, but we eat this kind of stuff so often that it would ruin us financially, well not really but it would be like 4x more expensive which is a stab to my miserly heart. Overall the recipe is flexible and the one below is just the last version I made which we enjoyed immensely.

I use a trick for all of my curries that have a gravy, and even stews: I remove some of the total mixture, blend it up and return it to the pot. This thickens the sauce and gives it that cooked yesterday kind of flavor.

Lastly, makki ki roit isn't made of normal corn meal, its a corn flour that is finer ground. I find that the Colombain arepa corn flour (in the Latin section of the grocery) works great! You can use 100% corn or mix it with a little wheat which makes them easier to roll out. Also, when cooking the roti you can also cook them on a greased pan at a slightly lower temperature to give them more of a crispy quality, I usually don't because I like a little more control of my caloric content, and I like a flexible soft roti. 

Sarson ka Saag

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2, 12oz blocks of frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1-2 lbs greens of some variety. (traditionally it's mustard greens which are the best anyway, but collards, turnip greens, and kale will all work)

2 TBS mustard oil

2 onions cut into 1 inch long, very thin slices
1 jalepeno finely chopped (optional)

2 tomatoes chopped

2 TBS ginger garlic paste

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 bay leaf (Indian tej pata are the best)

1/8 tsp hing

2 tsp cumin powder

1 TBS coriander powder

2 TBS corn flour ( I use Pan brand masarepa)

½ tsp garam masala

¼ C milk (optional)

¼ C chopped cilantro

2 TBS butter

Method

Heat up your mustard oil to med high and add your bay leaf until lightly browned

Add cumin seeds, then hing, then garlic ginger paste and stir for 30 seconds

Add onions, and jalepeno if your using it,and sautee until golden brown

Add tomatoes with cumin and coriander powder and fry until they break down into a mash

Add spinach and greens with enough water to cover them and reduce to a simmer until all everything is very very tender. Usually around 1 hour. You can also pressure cook it for like 15 min on high if you have one.

Take ½ of the mixture and blend it up with your corn flour until smooth and return to the pot

Add butter, garam masala, salt to taste, and milk if you're using it and stir for a minute or so.

Serve it garnished with fresh cilantro and makki ki rotis on the side.

Makki ki Rotis

Serves 4, makes 8 rotis

Ingredients

1 ½ C corn flour (Pan brand masarepa)

½ C atta (whole wheat flour) (optional, you can just replace this with more corn flour)

¾ – 1 C hot water

½ jalepeno minced finely (optional)

2 TBS finely minced cilantro (optional)

2 tsp coarsley ground cumin seeds (optional)

½ tsp salt

Method

Mix salt, jalepeno, cilantro, cumin seeds, and flour

Add water bit by bit and mix until you have a SOFT dough

Knead for 2-5 minutes until smooth

Cover and let sit for at least 15 minutes

Preheat Tawa/pan to med high

Cut into 8 pieces and make balls

Flatten ball and heavily coat with flour

Roll to thickness of a tortilla

Cook on ungreased pan for 1-2 minutes on one side, until there are small brown spots

Flip and cook another 30 seconds until brown spots form

Place on grate over hot burner, or directly over gas flame moving constantly until roti puffs up

Place in bowl with towel over the top while you cook the rest

Top them with some butter and eat them!