Saag Chole, Chole Palak, Chana Saag etc. etc., there are n number of ways this dish is named or called. The main base ingredient here is Chole a.k.a Chana a.k.a chickpeas a.k.a garbanzos – you know what I mean. The ‘Saag‘ in this word means ‘green’, any greens but traditionally is either spinach or a mixture of spinach and mustard greens. This can be called a combination of two typical punjabi staples – the chana or chickpeas, and the omnipresent ‘saag’ or greens.

I have typically found that this dish is making an appearance on a lot of Indian restaurant menus nowadays, either due to its increasing popularity, or also maybe in an effort to increase the number of items on the menu without really adding anything different. I hope that does not sound too caustic 😮

You can make this for two people or a crowd with roughly the same effort. This is really super easy, especially if you use canned chickpeas and frozen spinach, as I am wont to, especially ‘coz I almost always cook this when I am pressed for time. This is a vegetarian’s delight, packing a mean nutritious punch, and you can eat it on its own, or with some steamed rice. I dare you to eat a big bowl of this and Not feel full :).

Traditionally, I am pretty sure the hardworking ladies must have soaked the dried chickpeas for 12 hours plus and cooked them in an iron pot, and also this is much cheaper than buying a can, but sometimes the hustle bustle of life just takes over and whats a girl to do. At least its infinitesimally better than takeout, right?

A typical blend of spices is used here, which I call ‘punjabi‘ spices. But these are nothing to be afraid of. They are present in almost all pantries, even American ones, the only difference being that their usage may be different.

I make two versions of this dish – the crude one and the finer one. Knowing time constraints, I almost always end up making the crude one( as seen in the crude photo above). Both things taste the same, the only difference is in the presentation. The finer version uses pureed spinach instead of just chopped, hence the added step of using the FP.

So without wasting any more time, the recipe for saag chole is as follows –

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:24]

 

This dish is vegan as well as vegetarian and is a powerhouse of nutrition with all the spinach( and mustard if used) and the proteins from the chickpeas. Very little oil is used, but even that can be omitted by using a non-stick pan and using some broth or water in the initial step instead of oil.

Looking forward to finding out what you think of this.