Sai bhaji is the daily pot of Sindh — not a dish you make for guests, but the dish that fills the kitchen on ordinary evenings. Spinach, tomato, chana dal, and a sweep of whatever greens are in the house — dill, fenugreek, sorrel — cook down into one softly spiced mass, finished with a tarka of ghee, asafoetida and dried chilli. Asafoetida is not background in Sindhi cooking; it is the spine, carrying the whole flavour forward where garlic might do so in another tradition. It is eaten with koki, the sesame flatbread, pressed together on a plate without ceremony. To ask a Sindhi cook for the recipe is to be told that it has no recipe.
Zone: Indus Plains
SOURCE: Urdu-language food blog, Khanay Ka Shooq, Karachi, 2021, translated from Urdu
LOCAL NAME: سائی بھاجی
INGREDIENTS
- 300 g fresh spinach (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup chana dal (split chickpeas, soaked 1 hour)
- 2 medium tomatoes (roughly chopped)
- 1 small bunch fresh dill or fenugreek leaves (methi, roughly chopped)
- 1 medium onion (finely sliced)
- 1 tbsp ginger paste
- 1 tsp garlic paste
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp red chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
- 400 ml water
- 2 tbsp ghee
- ¼ tsp asafoetida (hing)
- 2 dried red chillies
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
METHOD
- Drain the soaked chana dal and place in a heavy pot with the water and turmeric. Simmer covered for 20 minutes until nearly tender.
- Add the spinach, tomato, dill or methi, onion, ginger and garlic pastes, coriander, chilli powder and salt. Stir well.
- Simmer covered for 15–20 minutes until the greens have completely collapsed and the dal is fully tender. Mash roughly — some texture is correct; it should not be a purée.
- For the tarka: heat the ghee in a small pan until it shimmers. Add the asafoetida and let it sizzle 15 seconds. Add the cumin seeds and dried red chillies and let them pop for 30 seconds.
- Pour the entire tarka — hot ghee and all — directly over the sai bhaji. Stir through and adjust salt.
- Serve with koki or chapati. A drizzle of raw mustard oil over the top is traditional in many households.
NOTES
UK adaptation: Spinach from any supermarket; baby spinach works but larger leaf needs its stems removed. Frozen spinach substitutes at a pinch — drain it well. Chana dal from any South Asian grocer. Asafoetida (hing) from any South Asian grocer; a small box lasts months. Dill is widely stocked; methi leaves from South Asian grocers in season. Everything else widely available.
US adaptation: Spinach from any grocery store; frozen works. Chana dal from Patel Brothers or H-Mart. Asafoetida from Indian grocery stores. Fresh dill from most supermarkets; methi from Patel Brothers. Everything else widely available.
Cook’s note: The asafoetida goes in first — a few seconds in hot ghee before anything else, so it blooms and sheds its raw edge. Add it to cold oil and it does nothing.
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