Sarson Ka Saag with Makki Ki Roti: Winter Comfort Dish
Winter is synonymous with delicious, heartwarming dishes. Sarson Ka Saag is one of the dishes I make every winter. It is one of the most awaited dishes in my home and is loved and relished by everyone. In Germany, where I live, I easily find sarson ke patte (mustard leaves) in Indian shops during winter. Fresh and frozen spinach is available all through the year in supermarkets. I combine these two leaves to make this delicious dish.
I cook the leaves with ginger and green chillies. Once cooked and cooled, I grind them with a small amount of maize flour to make a fine paste. The addition of maize flour gives a unique flavour to this dish.
Then, I add this mash to fried onions, tomatoes, garlic and spices. In the end, a tempering of ghee and asafoetida completes the dish. Sarson Ka Saag tastes best with Makki ki Roti, a flatbread made from maize flour. I have also shared the recipe for Makki Ki Roti in this article.
I have posted many more delicious winter recipes. You can find the links in my article: Warm Up with Indian Winter Recipes in Germany.
So, let us start with the recipe for Sarson Ka Saag:
Equipment Needed:
- Knives and Cutting Board
- Pressure Cooker
- Pan
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan
- Tawa
- Rolling pin and board
Read about all the equipment I use in my kitchen in my article: Setting Up My Indian Kitchen in Germany.
Ingredients for Sarson Ka Saag:
- 500 gm Mustard Leaves
- 250 gm Spinach
- 2 tbsp Chopped Ginger
- 5-6 Green Chilies
- 1 tbsp Maize Flour
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic
- 1 Medium-sized Onion, Chopped
- 1 Medium-sized Tomato, Chopped
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1/3 tsp Garam Masala
- 1 tbsp Butter and 2 tbsp Fresh Cream OR 2 tbsp Ghee with 2 pinches of asafoetida.
Some Additional Notes about Ingredient Sourcing In Germany:
Mustard Greens: Available in many Indian shops during the winter months. Called Sarson ke Patte in Hindi.
Spinach, Ginger, Garlic, Tomatoes, Onions: Available in supermarkets throughout the year. They are called Spinat, Ingwer, Knoblauch, Tomaten and Zwiebeln, respectively.
Spices: Available in Indian shops. Spices like turmeric and garam masala are available in supermarkets too.
Maize Flour: Available in both Indian shops (called Maize Flour/Makki Ka Atta) and supermarkets (Maismehl in German)
Butter: Use any butter of your choice. It is available in the refrigerator section of supermarkets. Read more about butter in my article: 10 different types of Butter and Spreads In German Supermarkets-Explained.
Fresh Cream: Use Schlagsahne/Sauresahne/Kochsahne; all work fine. Learn more about cream-based products in my article: Cream-based products in German Supermarkets Explained.
Ghee: Readymade ghee is available in Indian shops and supermarkets. However, you can make it at home too. Read my article: A guide to sourcing Ghee in Germany.
Salt: It is called Salz in German. Read my article: 10 Types of Salts in German Supermarkets-Explained.
Method to make Sarson Ka Saag:
Wash the mustard and spinach leaves.
Cook them in a pressure cooker with ginger and green chillies with about 1 cup of water.
When cooked, take it out and let it cool.
Once it cools, grind them to a fine paste with 1 tbsp of maize flour.
Heat ghee in a pan. Fry finely chopped garlic till it turns golden brown.
Add onions and fry till they become translucent.
Add tomatoes.
Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder and garam masala. Reduce the heat. Cover with a lid and fry till the tomatoes become mushy.
Add the ground paste.
Mix. Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
Either drizzle some fresh cream and butter while serving OR make a simple tempering of ghee and asafoetida and top it on piping hot sarson ka saag before serving. Garnish with thinly sliced ginger.
Method to make Makki Ki Roti
Heat water in a pot. Let it come to a boil.
Add the maize Flour. Mix. Turn off the heat. Cover with the lid and let it rest for 5-7 minutes.
Open the lid and give it a good mix.
Knead it with your hands. Add extra water, if needed and knead a smooth dough. At this step, you can optionally add a cup of whole wheat flour. Adding wheat flour will make it easy to roll the dough while making rotis. 
Add oil. Wet your hands and knead once again.
Cover and rest the dough for 10 minutes.
Heat a tawa/Pan. Also, heat a grill rack.
Take a small portion of the dough.
Roll it. Use dry wheat flour so that it doesn’t stick. Flatten it. It should neither be too thick nor too big.
Transfer to the hot pan. Cook on one side for about 15 seconds.
Turn and cook the other side for 15 seconds.
Then, transfer to the grill rack and let the roti puff up.
Take it out and serve it hot.
Here is the recipe in printable format:
Sarson Ka Saag aur Makki Ki Roti
Equipment
- Knives and Cutting Board
- Pressure Cooker
- Pan
- Mixing bowl
- Saucepan
- Tawa
- Rolling pin and board
Ingredients
- 500 gm Mustard Leaves
- 250 gm Spinach
- 2 tbsp Chopped Ginger
- 4-5 Green Chillies
- 1 tbsp Maize Flour
- 2 tbsp Ghee
- 1 Medium-Sized Onion, chopped
- 2-3 Cloves Garlic, finely chopped
- 1 Medium-Sized Tomato, chopped
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Turmeric Powder
- 1 tsp Kashmiri Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
- ½ tsp Garam Masala
- Butter and fresh cream for garnishing OR ghee and asafoetida for tempering
Ingredients needed to make Makki Ki Roti
- 2 Cups Water
- 3 Cups Maize Flour
- 1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour (optional)
- 1 tbsp Oil
- Dry Whole Wheat Flour; for making the Rotis
Instructions
- Wash the mustard and spinach leaves.
- Cook them in a pressure cooker with ginger and green chillies with about 1 cup of water.
- When cooked, take it out and let it cool. When cooled, grind them to a fine paste with maize flour.
- Heat ghee in a pan. Fry finely chopped garlic till it turns golden brown.
- Add onions and fry till they become translucent.
- Add tomatoes.
- Add salt, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, garam masala and coriander powder. Cover with a lid. Reduce the heat and cook until the tomatoes turn mushy.
- Add the ground paste.
- Mix. Cover with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium heat.
- Either drizzle some fresh cream and butter while serving OR make a simple tempering of ghee and asafoetida and top it on piping hot sarson ka saag before serving. Garnish with thinly sliced ginger.
Method to make Makki Ki Roti
- Heat water in a pot. Let it come to a boil.
- Add the maize Flour. Mix. Turn off the heat. Cover with the lid and let it rest for 5-7 minutes.
- Open the lid and give it a good mix.
- Knead it with your hands. Add extra water, if needed and knead a smooth dough. At this step, you can optionally add a cup of whole wheat flour. Adding wheat flour will make it easy to roll the dough while making rotis.
- Add oil. Wet your hands and knead once again.
- Cover and rest the dough for 10 minutes.
- Heat a tawa/Pan. Also, heat a grill rack.
- Take a small portion of the dough.
- Roll it. Use dry wheat flour so that it doesn’t stick. Flatten it. It should neither be too thick nor too big.
- Transfer to the hot pan. Cook on one side for about 15 seconds.
- Turn and cook the other side for 15 seconds.
- Then, transfer to the grill rack and let the roti puff up.
- Take it out and serve it hot.
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