SARHON DA SAAG TE MAKKI DI ROTI

Amita Paul

Amita Paul

The Smells, the Colours, the Textures, the Histories

The Narrative, the Links to the Past and the Present 

Of my Sarhon (notice, Sarhon, not Sarson) da (notice, da not ka) Saag 

Or Maize- floured Mustard Greens Curry Stew, Mess, or Paste from Punjab 

(notice me trying to define it for an international readership 

(notice me trying to give and idea of it to those who may never have heard of it - and failing but failing spectacularly!)

Today, I want to tell you about it.

In my village in the Malwa region of Punjab 

Sarhon da Saag always was and still is 

Cooked from late November to mid February 

The Winter Months in our part of the world 

When the wheat is growing alongside the mustard 

And imparting a sweeter flavour by some tangible osmosis 

To the usually acerbic (literally, sour and bitter) mustard leaves 

My grandmother always asked us to pluck the mustard leaves and stalks growing closest to the wheat fields 

And to pick the earliest, youngest, most tender mustard leaves 

With the greenest, sweetest, juiciest stems, called gandalaan 

(Gandalaan da Saag is the sweetest, you must know - never discard the stems!) 

And that too from the native mustard called Desi Sarhon 

Never the hybrid or foreign Raili Sarhon 

The Yellow Mustard, or Sarson, mind you, with its milder more sweet flavour 

Not the Black Mustard, or Rai with its more bitter flavour, used for curries, chutneys and pickles 

Or the Red Mustard called Banarsi Rai, whose tiny seeds are reserved normally only for pickling needs. 

Those precautions taken, then we cannot forget to pick some Bathua Saag, 

Which is Chenopopodium Album or White Goosefoot 

(Also called Lamb’s Quarters or Melde in English) 

And which grows naturally as a weed in the Desi or Native Wheat Crop fields 

So we are doing the weeding of the wheat fields while also picking essential herbs or greens for our Mustard Greens Stew 

Or Sarhon da Saag.

This is the season for spinach and fenugreek to grow in our vegetable plots 

As also for the fattest and shiniest of green chilies 

Onion and Garlic, while the monsoon Ginger has been harvested and put out to dry 

In the mild and friendly winter sunshine 

So we must gather these essentials too, for our Very Important Dish - let’s call it VID!

Now on a wood fire or supplemented with cow dung cakes

In the clay stove or chulha in the cooking area 

Of an open backyard up will go

A sturdy red baked mud pot half filled with water

With the whole family busy cleaning and washing and chopping the greens 

The proportions laid out by the main cook

Who could be mother or grandmother or aunt or some other elder 

One part of mustard greens to half part of spinach

Quarter part of white goosefoot and one tenth part of fenugreek

Quarter part of white onion one tenth parts of garlic, ginger and green chilies

Thickly chopped and added in as and when prepared 

And a little salt added for seasoning, that’s all

Some might add one tenth parts of shredded cauliflower 

Or finely chopped cabbage and even a small shredded turnip

But these are by the way and dependent on availability 

And matters of individual taste or family tradition.

Well, you let this mixture bubble and then simmer away for a good hour or more 

Covering it with a lid after a boil or two

Taking care not to lose even a drop of the water wherein all the flavours are 

And wait till the leaves grow tender 

And the seasonings too have turned into a mush, 

Then take it off the fire for the next step of the recipe. 

Much gossip goes on in between, besides genuine exchange of news

Among the cooks and helpers

Adding mysteriously to the flavour of the final dish. 

Meanwhile someone is pounding a mixture of fresh chillies and ginger with a purpose

While the main cook measures out the maize flour for the Saag paste 

As also for the Makki di Roti or Maize Bread with which the Saag is to be eaten 

And the previous Desi Ghee or Home- made Clarified butter for the cooking and tempering 

For which last step more onions and garlic too must be chopped

And some fresh cream or top of the milk or Malai too must be kept ready.

Now to separate the boiled leaves and seasonings from the green and flavoursome water of the stew 

In which they have been cooking in the mud pot 

You must press with a ghotna or a wooden masher and squeeze to get all the water out 

Then put the squishy solids in a Kundi or stone grinding pot

And begin to grind them with the ghotna or a sota

Both wooden mashing or grinding sticks 

And as you mash and grind your greens 

You must add small quantities of maize flour and the stew soup or green water 

Turn by turn, and mix them with the boiled leaf greens, herbs and condiments 

Till it all forms a thin watery paste 

Taking care not to let the maize flour form even a single tiny lump

And adding tiny spoonfuls of the coarsely ground ginger- chilli mixture at every turn 

So that the paste does not turn bland.

In the end, you just add the last of the water to the paste 

As you put it back in the mud pot and give it all a final stir 

Then let the thin gruelly paste simmer away for a good quarter of an hour

So that the maize flower and the raw chilli garlic mixture gets thoroughly cooked

You must stir it of course, so that lumps don’t form

But beware of the sputtering bubbles that form and burst out of the dish

For they can scald you badly

And MOST IMPORTANT of all 

Don’t forget to add a generous ladleful of homemade ghee to the boiling mixture 

To perform the wonderful alchemy that ghee always does 

In Indian cooking.

As the VID simmers and sputters on the wood fire in the clay oven

We must now get together the handful of chopped onions and garlic 

and the leftover mixture of ginger and chillies roughly pounded together 

And more ghee for the final tempering 

And add these to a kadhaai or large Indian wok

And sauté the seasonings before adding the cooked greens to them 

Checking for taste and adding salt or red chilli powder if needed

And finally, just before taking the VID off the fire

Add the homemade cream or top-of- the - milk 

And give it all a good stir.

Our Sarhon the Saag is finally ready, but we must cover it and keep it aside.

For now is the time to make the Makki di Roti or Maize Tortilla or Indian Cornbread to eat the Saag with 

Starting with a loose dough made in warm water 

And rolling out thick tortillas to be cooked on a thick iron griddle 

And to keep ready the white unsalted homemade butter 

Or in its absence more ghee 

To butter the hot bread with.

Some helpers must now make ready the other essential accompaniments of the VID

Curd and buttermilk, and sliced carrots and radish

Whole red or white onions mildly smashed with a ghotna or wooden pounding stick

And peeled but not sliced, ready to be pulled apart by the diners 

Each of whom would get one full thus smashed onion on his plate

Alongwith one or two buttered Maize Tortillas piled on top with the Saag 

Again topped with a scoop of white butter or fresh cream 

And the carrot and radish salad 

And some freshly made Amla or Indian Gooseberry pickle

With gooseberries fried in mustard oil with salt, turmeric powder and coriander powder

And if asked for, some mango pickle as well.

A walnut- sized lump of jaggery would also be placed in the thali or brass serving plate of each diner 

The curd in a small bowl for each diner is left unseasoned 

But the buttermilk is usually salted spiced up further with black salt, coarsely ground black pepper, as well as freshly roasted and ground cumminseed powder.

These are great accomplishments with which to wash down the Saag- Roti. 

The sweet jaggery can be eaten at any point during the meal but is usually left till last 

To be eaten with the final morsel of Makki di Roti 

Or Maizeflour Tortilla 

And some fresh unsalted butter or cream or warm fluid ghee 

- That’s enough dessert after such a full meal. 

Now tell me, is that not a meal fit for a king or a queen ?

Far away from home, if homesick for this VID, one has to make do

For restaurants serve only a travesty of it 

And many serve the Saag with wheat chapatis 

Or with Missi Roti, which is made of a mixture

Of gram flour and wheat flour, seasoned with salt and caraway seeds. 

In England in the nineteen seventies one could find tins of Sohna or Verka Mustard Saag 

Exported by the Government of Punjab and sold by Indian stores 

And in the United States and Canada in the nineteen- nineties

I found it still available as such, but with the added benefit 

Of Mexican Corn, Maize or Wheat Tortillas.

I always tried to make fresh tempering of onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies to go with it

And to add the curd, buttermilk, carrot, radish 

Onion, green chilly and pickle accompaniments for good measure 

And always shed a metaphoric tear or two induced by nostalgia 

For my village, my grandmother, and the clay oven in our open backyard.

My guests to such a VID meal were always delighted 

For though they knew it was not authentic 

They appreciated the thought and effort behind it 

And while the non sub continental ones had nothing to compare it with

The guests from India and Pakistan, especially those from Punjab

Were just so sentimental about this signature meal from rural Punjab 

That their emotions made up for the lack of authenticity in the meal served to them.

Such is the magic of our age old culinary treat

Sarhon da Saag te Makki di Roti

2. POEMS AS FOOD 

(A Self Renga) 

The sudden burst 

Of chilli on your tongue 

Satirical Senryu

The headiness 

Of Rice Wine Sake 

Japanese Haiku 

Biting and chewing 

The sweet bread of a Sonnet 

So satisfying 

The Rose Petal Kheer 

Of a delicate Ghazal

Unforgettable 

The bold Biryani 

Of an Irregular Ode

A full meal 

The rustic potage 

Of an Ecologue 

Pastoral Idyll 

The Greek Retsina

Of Epic Heroic Poetry

Most influential

The Honeyed Wine

Of Horace’s Lyrics 

Latin Poetry

The Korean Kimchi

Of a thought-provoking Sijo

Very inspiring 

The Malaysian Satay

Of a rounded Pantoum

Tasty and nourishing 

The Burmese Khao Suey

Of a graded Than Bauk

With echoing rhymes 

The French Chocolate

Of a charming Rondeau

A real treat 

The Italian Ravioli

Of a sensuous Sestina 

Worth the effort 

The Scottish Haggis

Of a Highland Ballad 

Or Border Song 

The Irish Stew 

Of the Ae Freislighe form 

Brief or long 

The English Breakfast

Of an Aubade with benefits 

Very tempting 

After Dinner Mints 

Of a Sweet Serenade 

Fragrant Dreams 

The Funeral Meats

Or Wake of an Elegy

So appropriate.

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Setu, June 2022