Saag & Makki di Roti

Name: Saag & Makki di Roti
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 30 min
Yield: 4-6
Ingredients: fresh spinach 300 g; fresh mustard leaves 300 g; fresh methi (fenugreek leaves) 150 g; mooli radish 1 small; fresh ginger, chopped 20 g; fresh garlic, chopped 20 g; fresh tomatoes, chopped 2; brown onion, chopped 1; fresh green chillies, chopped 2; chilli powder, or to taste 1 tsp; East End ghee 3 tbsp; maize flour / cornmeal flour 500 g; lukewarm water approx 300 ml; oil or ghee; East End Desi ghee; butter to serve

How do you Diwali? For Raj and the team at Raunka Punjab in Southall, it starts with Saag & Makki di Roti 🪔. And trust us, this is comfort food at its finest. It’s one of the most authentic dishes on their menu: mustard greens, spinach and fenugreek leaves with radish, ginger and garlic, slow-cooked then scooped up with warm, buttery makki di roti. A proper taste of Punjabi home cooking.

30 minutes prep

30 minutes cook

Serves 4-6

Hugh Woodward

Ingredients

Sainsbury’s Ingredients for Saag:

300 gfresh spinach

300 gfresh mustard leaves

150 gfresh methi (fenugreek leaves)

1 smallmooli radish

20 gfresh ginger, chopped

20 gfresh garlic, chopped

2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 brown onion, chopped

2 fresh green chillies, chopped

1 tspchilli powder, or to taste

3 tbsp East End ghee

Makki di roti ingredients:

500 gmaize flour / cornmeal flour

approx 300 ml lukewarm water

oil or ghee

East End Desi ghee

to serve butter

We’ve teamed up with Sainsbury’s so you can bring a little of that magic into your own kitchen. Shop the full recipe at Sainsbury’s. Light up your Diwali with Nectar Prices, so your money, and your feast, goes further.

18+. Nectar required. Available in selected supermarkets and online, excludes Locals. For full terms see: nectar.com/c/nectar-prices

Method

FOR THE SAAG: Thoroughly wash the three greens, removing any tough stalks, then roughly chop.

Add the greens to a large pot with the chopped radish and half the ginger and garlic. Cover with warm water and season to taste, then place over a low flame and cook gently, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is rich and flavoursome. Remove from the heat and coarsely blend for a traditional consistency.

Heat the ghee in a separate pan. Fry the onion until starting to brown, then add the remaining ginger and garlic with the green chilli, shortly followed by the tomatoes and chilli powder. Season to taste.

Once the masala is rich and the fat has separated, stir through the ground saag. Return to a gentle heat and simmer until everything is well combined and the flavours have developed, then serve.

MAKKI DE ROTI (PUNJABI CORNBREAD): Make the dough. Add the maize flour to a large bowl. Pour in the lukewarm water a little at a time, kneading as you go, until the dough is soft and smooth.

Shape the rotis. Oil your palms and take a ball of dough about the size of a small orange. Lay a square of foil on the counter and brush it with oil or ghee. Place the ball on top and gently press it out with your fingertips into a round, roughly 5mm thick. (Maize dough has no gluten, so it will crack under a rolling pin. Your hands are the best tool here.)

Heat a heavy skillet or tawa over a medium heat. Lift the roti on its foil and flip it onto the pan, foil side up. Once the underside is cooked, peel off the foil, flip, and cook the other side, spooning over desi ghee until both sides are golden and lightly charred.

Top each roti generously with butter and serve hot with saag.