Saag Roti
200g (1/2 bunch) English spinach leaves, stalks removed
500g (3 2/3 cups) atta (chapati flour) or 250g (1 2/3 cups) wholemeal flour and 250g (2cups) plain (all-purpose) flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ghee or oil
ghee or oil, for cooking
Makes 20
Cook the spinach briefly in a little simmering water until it is just wilted, then refresh in cold water. Drain thoroughly, then finely chop. Squeeze out any extra water by putting the spinach between two plates and pushing them together.
Sift the atta and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the spinach, ghee and about 250ml (1 cup) tepid water and mix to form a soft, pliable dough. Turn out the dough onto a floured work surface and knead for 5 minutes. Place in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 20 balls. Working with one portion at a time and keeping the rest covered, on a lightly floured surface roll out each portion evenly to a 12cm (5 in) circle about 1mm (1/12 in) thick.
Heat a tava, griddle or heavy-based frying pan until hot, oil it with ghee and cook one roti at a time. Cook each on one side, covered with a saucepan lid (this will help keep them soft), for about 1 minute. Turn it over, cover again and cook the other side for 2 minutes. Check the roti a few times to make sure it doesn’t overcook. The roti will blister a little and brown in some places. Remove the roti and keep it warm under a tea towel. Cook the remaining roti.
Ok when I made this I read the recipe wrong lol. I just used 2 cups of plain flour plus extra until the mix kneadable and not sticky. Next time I will do the wholemeal & plain or see if I can find atta flour.
I squeezed my spinach between 2 chopping boards.
Make sure the balls of dough don’t touch as they stick back together after a while eekkss.
I used my electric fry-pan on the hottest setting and chucked 5 roti’s into the frypan at a time (rolled them as I needed them). I didn’t cover with a lid but let it puff up and brown a bit, then the other side.
These where a bit floury but that was probably because I stuffed up. Next time will add some garlic, use ghee instead of oil and maybe a little bit of grated cheese (and of course the correct type and amount of flour).