to indulge in some rich buttery SAAG along with Makki ki roti!
Saag can be made in different ways, using a variety of greens!
You can make it pure using just Sarson (mustard greens)
Or you can combine sarson with palak and other vegetables like methi, chaulai, shalgam, mooli etc too.
Each variation has it’s own charm…and this one happens to be a personal fav!
Method:
Chop finely 3 medium size onions, 3 medium tomatoes, 4-5 cloves of garlic and 1 inch of ginger.
Heat a tbsp of butter + 1 tsp oil. Add ginger garlic and cook for 2 minutes on medium heat.
Then add onions
and cook till they turn golden.
Now add the tomatoes
and cook till they leave oil.
Meanwhile prepare your greens…
Take 1 bunch each of Sarson, Palak and methi leaves.
Pluck methi leaves from their stems ( discard stem) and wash nicely to remove all grit.
Pluck spinach from stem (reserving tender stem) and wash
Pluck sarson leaves off their stem, wash and reserve their tender stem too.
Microwave each type of leaves for 5 minutes.
Dunk in ice cold water bath for a minutes.
Lift out of water and keep aside.
Next collect all tender spinach stems, wash and keep aside.
Also collect relatively tender sarson stems also called danthals. Snip and peel these stems and wash. Microwave spinach and sarson stems for 5 minutes too.
Now transfer all cooked greens and stems to blender along with 2-3 green chillies.
Pulse to grind to the consistency of your liking.
Transfer the greens to the cooked onion tomato masala. Add salt to taste and mix nicely…bring to a slow simmer.
Dissolve a tbsp of Makki ka atta in 1/2 cup water and add to the above.
Now cook on low heat for 20-25 minutes on for flavors to meld and infuse and become one cohesive mass.
At this stage I add 1/4 tsp of white pepper powder (optional). This adds a distinct flavor and aroma that I really like!
Just before serving, heat a tbsp of ghee, add a generous pinch of heeng, a tsp of jeera and red chilli powder to taste.
Garnish with thinly sliced ginger and a blob of white butter…serve with garma garam Makki ki roti…yum yum!