Dec 15, 2009

Channa Saag

Alright this is another dish my twins love to eat(lick literally) if its from Royal Taj. I have tried making this dish few times and nothing came closer to theirs and my daughters immediately leave a statement "Amma this spinach is not good as Royal Taj's spinach". But this time, it came out well and it was almost close to their recipe and my daughters couldn't find any difference. Here goes the recipe.

Ingredients:-
  1. spinach - 1 box ( I used frozen box- can also use fresh Palak)
  2. Garbanzo beans - 1/4 cup ( I used canned beans)
  3. cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
  4. Co0riander powder - 1/2 tsp
  5. Red chillies powder - 1 tsp (acc to taste)
  6. Onion - 1 (finely chopped)
  7. ginger - a small piece (chopped finely)
  8. Garlic - a small piece (finely chopped)
  9. Salt to taste
  10. Oil or Butter - 2 tsp
  11. Cream - 1/4 cup **
  12. Green Onion - 1 tsp (To garnish)
  13. Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp
  14. Fennel seeds - 1/4 tsp
  15. turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp

First thaw the frozen spinach and cook it in the microwave for 6 to 8 mts or until it is cooked. In the mean time, pre heat oil (or butter) in a pan, splutter cumin and fennel seeds. Add chopped ginger and garlic and saute until garlic turns pink. Now add chopped onion and saute until it becomes transparent and fully cooked. Now add the cooked spinach, add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, red chillies powder and a cup of water and let it cook for couple of minutes. Mash the spinach with spatula nicely(or can even grind it). Now add the cooked garbanzo beans along with required amount of salt. Mix it together and let it boil. Add the heavy cream at this stage and adjust water according to the required consistency. Let everything mix together and cook until excess water is evaporated. Garnish it with green onion and enjoy it with chapathis/rotis or pooris.

** - Since I ran out of heavy cream, I just used 1% milk (which was a mistake). If you need creamy texture, please use heavy cream.

7 comments:

Pari Vasisht said...

I agree adding cream would be a good choice to the recipe. But otherwise it's a very healthy recipe.

Shama Nagarajan said...

nice different recipe

Padma said...

Healthy dish Vidhya... usually i make a paste of spinach and add them. Will try this way and also by using cream next time.

Gita Jaishankar said...

Healthy dish Vidhya...adding cream makes it very rich...looks good :)

Raks said...

Never tasted channa saag like this before,sounds healthy!

lata raja said...

I make saag with rajma! never thought of replacing with any other legume. this looks delicious!

Beatrice said...

Chana saag is one of my favorites, but I've never run across a recipe before -- this looks good (and I like that you use frozen spinach).