Makai Butta
Makai butta is charred corn on the cob rubbed with lime, salt and mild chilli. It tastes smoky, juicy and sharp, with a gentle warmth from the chilli.
Chilli salt rub
2.5 gStirred into the salt for the rub (step 1)Everything else
Method
- Stir 2.5 g chilli powder into 14.5 g salt in a bowl to make the chilli salt rub.
- Set the chilli salt rub aside.
- Cut 150 g lime into quarters.
- Hold 400 g corn on the cob over a medium open flame and cook for 8–9 minutes, turning often, until lightly charred and smoky and the kernels pop.
- Rest the cobs on a plate for a few seconds.
- Dip the lime quarters into the chilli salt rub, then rub each cob with a lime quarter, squeezing as you go so the juice spreads the rub evenly over the corn.
- Garnish with extra chilli powder and any remaining lime, and serve warm.
Don't have something?
Kashmiri chilli powderUse the same weight; this is the first half of the book's option and gives the best red colour with mild heat.
Mild paprikaUse the same weight; add a pinch of cayenne pepper for warmth. Slightly less colour.
- Paprika
Use the same weight and add cayenne pepper to taste; works but is less aromatic.
Sweetcorn kernelUse about 100 g kernels for 1 cob (150 g with cob). Simmer or char briefly; texture is looser but sweet flavour is close.
Baby cornUse the same weight, halve lengthwise and cook 2–3 minutes less; crunchier and less sweet than cob kernels.
Tinned sweetcornUse the same drained weight, add at the end and warm through; softer and already salted.
LemonUse the same weight; sharper and less floral, so reduce any extra souring slightly.
Lemon juiceUse about 30 g juice per lime (2 tbsp), strain pips; add at the end for fresh sourness.
Dried mango powderUse 1 g amchoor for about 15 g lime juice; add early with spices; gives dry mango sourness, not citrus aroma.
Similar dishes
- Same: Makkai Butta shares charred corn on the cob, Kashmiri chilli powder, lime and salt with this dish. Both are smoky, juicy and gently warm from mild chilli.
- Different: Makkai Butta adds melted butter and coriander leaf and brushes a chilli-lime-coriander butter onto the corn. This dish has no butter or coriander and rubs the corn with lime, salt and chilli, with much more salt and lime.
- Same: Marathi Sweetcorn Aamti shares corn on the cob and a mild Kashmiri chilli powder with this dish.
- Different: Marathi Sweetcorn Aamti has a chickpea-flour sauce with jaggery, tamarind, turmeric, ground coriander, vegetable oil, cumin seed, green chilli and coriander leaves, while this dish is charred corn rubbed with lime, salt and chilli powder.
- Same: Makki ki Roti shares corn as its main ingredient and uses salt, like this dish.
- Different: Makki ki Roti is a flatbread made from cornmeal with wholemeal flour, plain flour, and ghee or butter, and it lacks lime and chilli; this dish is charred corn on the cob rubbed with lime, salt, and mild chilli.
- Same: Gujarati Vaghara Makkai shares corn, lime, chilli and salt with this dish.
- Different: It uses sweetcorn kernels, vegetable oil, black mustard seed, asafoetida, turmeric, garlic, ginger, green bird's-eye chilli and peanuts, and it is tempered and coated in a paste rather than charred on the cob and rubbed with kashmiri chilli powder or paprika.