I made this in 20 minutes and that included taking the photos!
It might be simple, but this easy chana saag recipe is amazing!
Hi everyone. My new chana saag recipe is the first in a series I will be writing of recipes that you can make with ingredients you might already have on hand or can easily pick them up.
This chana saag recipe may not be exactly as I would normally make it but I promise, you will get great results. It’s tasty and can be whipped up in less than 20 minutes.
The chana saag can be easily amended to what you have on hand too. Just after the recipe instructions, I have listed ingredient substitutes that will work very well. I used what I have on hand but have tried all the substitutes and know they will work for you.
So think of this simple chana saag recipe as a guide but feel free to use up what you have.
I should point out that I would normally cook this recipe the British Indian Restaurant (BIR) way using my base curry sauce recipe and perhaps about 35ml (1/8 cup) tomato puree. If you have these ingredients on hand, go ahead and use them instead.
Using a base curry sauce, the cooking time will be even faster!
The fresh ingredients needed for the curry. Red onion could also be used and you could use garlic and ginger paste.
Infuse the oil with the delicious flavour of the cumin seeds for about 20 seconds.
Fry the onions until soft, translucent and lightly browned. Add the chillies and ground spices.
I would like to mention here that frozen spinach is an excellent substitute for fresh. In fact some say it is the better option.
Frozen spinach is available at most supermarkets and often comes in cubes. 2 cubes should be enough for this recipe.
Blend the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and half the spinach to a paste.
Once the onions are light brown, add the tomato and spinach paste.
Reduce the sauce down by about one third and then add the chickpeas and remaining spinach.
Cook the spinach until it wilts into the sauce. Then reduce the sauce down until you are happy with the consistency.
If you like this chana saag recipe, you might like to try some of the Indian Vegetarian favourites.
Dum Aloo
Pakistani Chickpea Biryani
Punjabi Saag Curry
Punjabi Rajma
Butternut Squash Curry
Sri Lankan Green Beans Curry
Aloo Gobi
Saag Paneer
Onion Pakora Curry
Potato Curry
Saag Paneer
Mushroom Curry
Masala Corn
Gobi Manchurian
Bombay Potatoes
Masala Dosa
Saag Aloo
Tandoori Hummus
Tarka Dal
Masoor Dal
Dal Makhani
Chana Dal
Homemade Poppadoms From Scratch
Green Bean Thoran
Cabbage Thoran
Have you tried this chana saag recipe?
If yes, please give it a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a comment. I love receiving your feedback and I’m sure other readers of my blog do too. Thank you.
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Chana Saag Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp ghee or rapeseed (canola) oil
- 1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
- 1/2 onion - finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic - smashed
- 1 x 2.5cm (1 inch) ginger - roughly chopped
- 400ml tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 - 3 green bird's eye chillies - finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 400g tin of chickpeas (garbonzo beans)
- 3 handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves - roughly chopped
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander (cilantro) finely chopped
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium-high heat until it begins to shimmer.
- Stir in the cumin seeds and let their flavour infuse into the oil for about 20 seconds.
- Add the chopped onion and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time until soft and translucent.
- While the onion is frying, place the tomatoes, garlic, ginger and half the spinach in a food blender and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- When your onions are soft and lightly browned, stir in the chopped chillies and all the ground spices except for the garam masala.
- Stir the spices and chillies into the fried onions and fry for about 30 seconds. Then add the blended tomato mixture.
- Let this simmer for about five minutes or until it has reduced by about half and is quite thick.
- Add the chickpeas and the remaining spinach and cover the pan. The spinach will cook down as it releases moisture into the pan. Stir occasionally.
- To finish, season with salt to taste. Sprinkle with the garam masala and garnish with the chopped coriander.
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Fresh Spinach: You can use frozen spinach with equally good results.
Chickpeas (garbonzo beans: Use another bean such as tinned kidney beans or black eyed beans.
Tinned (canned) tomatoes: You can substitute about 4 medium tomatoes.
Garlic and ginger: If you have garlic and ginger paste on hand, that works just as well.
Fresh chillies: Deliciously spicy but not required. You could use more chilli powder to taste or omit completely.
Curry Powder: You could also use more garam masala. Curry Powder usually has chilli powder and turmeric in it, so a good curry powder will work if you don’t have the turmeric and/or chilli powder on hand.
This is a delicious and easy recipe to serve 2 to 3 with a healthy meal.
Kyle
Monday 31st of January 2022
Hi Dan, Are there ingredients that I omit if I want to use a base curry sauce with this recipe? Thanks
Dan Toombs
Tuesday 1st of February 2022
Just experiment a bit, I don't have a recipe for that. Instead of chopped onions maybe add the base sauce. Thanks Dan
Col Lockton
Thursday 18th of February 2021
One of our favourites during Lockdown - It's healthy, nutritious and very tasty.
The daughter is Vegan and it fits in with our taste bud as a bonus.
Love it with a dollop of Yoghurt on top.
Thanks Dan
Dan Toombs
Friday 19th of February 2021
Glad you pleased everybody. Thanks very much. Dan