CHANA SAAG RECIPE / SPINACH CHICKPEAS CURRY
Chana Saag Recipe / Spinach Chickpeas Curry is a smooth, creamy side dish made with white chickpeas, spinach and methi leaves. Chana means chickpeas and Saag means leafy greens (spinach and methi). This is one of my favourite vegetarian side dish for chapathi or naan or jeera rice or bajra roti. Once in a while, we go to Indian restaurant for lunch during weekend, the one dish which we like most is chana saag, the restaurant’s always have this dish in a buffet. We (me and my husband) both are foodies, love chana saag, so we want to replicate the same dish at home, we got the doubt, whether the restaurant’s chef add only spinach or they add any other additional greens, after a long discussions, we thought of using two greens (spinach and methi) along with chickpeas, guess what, it tastes similar to restaurant style chana saag. I wanted to share the same recipe in my blog. For healthy version, we used only milk and yogurt. If you have cream, add it to the gravy instead of milk. I love to eat it with naan. Try this chana saag at home and let me know your feedback.
How to make Chana Saag Recipe / Spinach Chickpeas Curry
- 1 and ¼ Cup of Chickpeas (Boiled)
- 3 Tsp of Oil
- 1 Tsp of Cumin
- 1 Red Chilly
- 1 Red Onion, Finely Chopped
- 1 Green Chilly, Finely Chopped
- 2 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste
- ½ Tsp of Red Chilly Powder
- ½ Tsp of Turmeric Powder
- 2 Tsp of Coriander Powder
- ½ Tsp of Cumin Powder
- ¼ Tsp of Garam Masala
- 2 Tbsp of Yogurt (Curd)
- 1 Big Tomato, Finely Chopped
- ¼ Cup of Milk
- 1 Tbsp of Besan Flour
- Salt to taste
- To Grind
- 2 Cups of Spinach (regular or baby spinach)
- 1 Cup of Methi Leaves (Fenugreek Leaves)
- 1 Green Chilly
- Wash both spinach and methi leaves in tap water to remove dirt and mud.
- Heat a pan with little water, when it comes to boil, add spinach, green chilly and methi leaves. Cover and cook it for 2 mins. Remove from heat, cool it and grind it in a mixie / blender to a coarse paste NOT TO SMOOTH. DO NOT ADD EXCESS WATER. This step is called BLANCHING.
- Heat a pan with oil, when it is hot, add red chilly, cumin, fry it for secs. Add onion and green chilly, fry till golden brown.
- Add ginger garlic paste, fry till raw smell vanishes.
- In a low flame, add turmeric powder, red chilly powder, coriander powder and cumin powder, fry it for 2 mins. DO NOT FRY IT IN HIGH FLAME.
- Add yogurt , fry it.
- Add tomato, fry it till soft.
- Add spinach paste, fry it for few secs.
- Add chana (boiled chickpeas), fry well with masala.
- Add garam masala and fry it.
- Add milk and 1 cup of water, simmer it and cook it for 10 mins.
- Finally, in a bowl add besan flour and water, mix it to form a paste. Add this to the curry, combine everything together. Gravy turns thick by now. Cook it for few mins and turn it off.
- Hot, delicious chana saag is ready to serve with chapathi or roti or naan or rice.
You can also use canned chickpeas to make this curry.
Adding Milk is to get creamy taste. If you have cream, you can add instead.
You can follow the same recipe by adding aloo (potato) instead of chickpeas to get aloo palak.
Adjust the number of green chilly according to your taste.
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