Channa Saag
This channa saag is an amazing and delicious vegan Indian dish thats perfect for a satisfying dinner
Ingredients
- 3-4 cup channa (chickpeas) cooked
- 1 lb spinach(or any greens) chopped
- 1 medium Red or Yellow Onion peeled and finely chopped
- 3 medium tomatoes finely diced
- 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 inch ginger grated
- 2-3 Indian green chiles finely chopped (adjust according to taste)
- 1 teaspoon Jeera(Cumin seeds)
- 1 teaspoon Saunf (Fennel seeds)
- 2 teaspoon Powdered Dhaniya (Coriander Powder)
- 5 Whole Cloves
- 1 inch Cinnamon Stick
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoon garam masala
- 1-2 teaspoon Kashmiri Red Chili Powder
- 3 + 1 teaspoon Kasuri Methi (Dry Fenugreek Leaves)
- ½ Lemon optional
- 1-2 cup water for cooking
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil or ghee
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to a low boil. Add the spinach or combination of greens to the water and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Do this in batches depending on how much greens you are cooking. Remove from water and let it cool down.
- Once the greens have sufficiently cooled down, place in a blender and puree until completely smooth. Keep aside.
- Heat oil in a dutch oven or similar sized pan. Add the cumin, fennel seeds,cloves and cinnamon to the oil. Wait until you can see the seeds splatter in the oil a little.
- Add the onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Then add garlic and ginger. Saute for couple of minutes until lightly browned.Now add the tomatoes.
- Add green chiles followed by turmeric, chili powder and coiander powder. Let this simmer at medium low heat for 10 minutes.
- Now add the pureed greens. Season with more salt if required. Add some more water if the gravy needs it and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
- Mix in the cooked chickpeas, garam masala and let it all cook for 3-4 minutes. Depending on the consistency you want, smash in a few chickpeas to thicken up the liquid.
- Top with lots of Kasuri Methi and with a squeeze of lime/lemon juice before serving.Serve with roti, naan or makki ki roti (cornmeal flatbread)
Notes
- Feel free to use any greens you have on hand if you don't have access to mustard greens or spinach. Traditionally saag is made with mustard greens, turnip greens, spinach and other greens including bathua (lamb's quarters). These are winter greens. In my version here, I have used baby spinach. Feel free to use any of these or even chard, kale, collards, beet greens etc.
- Chickpeas can be replaced with paneer, tofu or even potatoes. They will taste equally great in the saag.
- Serve with chopped chiles, raw onion, cucumber slices and a few pieces of lime.
- I love cooking chickpeas from scratch. There are times when I used tinned chickpeas. However I like the texture of home cooked chcikepas so much better. I also prefer being able to control what goods in to it. Not to mention, you get a better bang for you buck buying bulk dry chickpeas and cooking it. I have listed a quick walk through of cooking chickpeas in an instant pot below.
- Rinse 2 cups of dry chickpeas and soak it overnight or for at least 4-5 hours. Add the chickpeas and 6-7 cups of fresh water to the stainless steel. Close the lid and set to "sealing" mode and select "pressure cook" option and set the time to 18 minutes. Once the cook time is up, let the steam naturally release for 20 minutes before force releasing the steam. Use immediately or store for future use in the refrigerator or freezer. You will get around 7-8 cups of cooked chickpeas.