Majha Saag Bathua Chenopodium Winter Green

Method

1. 1

   Wash bathua thoroughly: Bathua leaves growing in wheat fields collect dust. Wash in multiple changes of water until water runs clear.

2. 2

   Boil the bathua: Boil bathua in a pot of water with a pinch of salt for 12 to 15 minutes until completely soft and wilted.

3. 3

   Drain and retain some cooking water.

4. 4

   Blend with maize flour: Blend the boiled bathua with 2 tbsp maize flour and a few tablespoons of the cooking water to a medium-smooth paste — some texture should remain.

5. 5

   Transfer to a pot: Place the blended bathua in a pot on medium heat. Simmer 5 minutes, adding cooking water if too thick.

6. 6

   Add salt: Add salt.

7. 7

   Make the garlic-ghee chaunke: Heat 3 tbsp ghee on medium-high. Add cumin seeds — crackle. Add coarsely crushed garlic — fry for 2 minutes until golden. Add dried red chilli. Add asafoetida. Add red chilli powder — stir 10 seconds off heat.

8. 8

   Pour the chaunke: Pour the fierce ghee-garlic tempering into the simmering bathua. Stir.

9. 9

   Simmer 2 minutes more.

10. 10

    Serve: Place a generous knob of white butter on top. Serve with makki di roti or wheat roti.

11. 11

    Note: Bathua (Chenopodium album, also called lamb's quarters) grows wild in the wheat fields of Punjab from November to February — it is considered a weed by farmers but the leaves have been eaten as a green vegetable for centuries before the green went out of fashion with the rise of easier-to-prepare spinach. The Majha region (the central Punjab belt around Amritsar and Tarn Taran) is where the bathua saag tradition is strongest — the farmers of this region still forage bathua from their own wheat fields in the winter months.