Calling channa saag a regular meal in our home is an understatement.
It’s my husband’s comfort food. It’s one of few vegetable-heavy dishes that Rho will eat happily.
It’s also very easy – and faster to make than for waiting for delivery.
My channa saag has all the complex and spicy flavors of the restaurant dish, but with a few twists that make it uniquely mine. I like to use two kinds of greens, and to blend them with the spices, coconut cream, and part of the chickpeas to make it super creamy.
Paired with coconut basmati rice (just cook rice in a mixture of coconut and regular water), and you have a dinner that we eat every single week.
Sometimes, twice.
Channa saag is a regular, after all.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 inch ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 jalapeño
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
- 16 ounces baby spinach (one big container)
- 1 can coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
- Heat coconut oil in a large sauté pan over low heat.
- Toast the garam masala and cayenne in the coconut oil. Once fragrant, add the onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapeño. Sauté until the onion is translucent.
- Add spinach and 1/4 cup of chickpeas. Cook until the spinach is wilted.
- In a blender, combine the spinach mixture with the cream of the coconut milk can. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the spinach mixture back into the pan and add the chickpeas, Simmer for 15-20 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper. Serve with rice or with naan.
Love Indian food? These braised vegetables are perfect for fall, kitchari is as fast as it is delicious, and golden rice would be a perfect pairing with this channa saag.
I share a food post on Mondays. You can find (and filter!) them all here.Â
