Looking for a comforting, wholesome meal that is rich in flavors? This delicious Chana Saag recipe combines tender chickpeas with creamy spinach sauce, creating a satisfying meal with a perfect balance of spices!
My Meal Pairing Tip: Enjoy this classic Indian dish of Curried Chickpeas and Spinach with restaurant-style Indian Rice or Indian flatbread for a cozy weeknight dinner!
Chana means chickpeas, and saag refers to a spiced leafy greens curry. Together, Chana Saag makes a hearty, comforting dish with tender chickpeas simmered in a flavorful, spice-infused green sauce. The slow-cooked spices deepen the taste, creating a well-balanced curry perfect for a cozy meal.
If you enjoy Indian chickpea recipes, try my chickpea kale curry or the restaurant-style Indian chickpea masala to bring classic Indian flavors to your table. For a different take on saag curry, try my vegan saag paneer, where tofu is simmered in a rich, creamy spinach sauce.
Ingredients
For exact ingredient quantities, please check the recipe card.
- Chickpeas - I cooked chickpeas using an Instant pot and used it in this recipe. You can check my Instant pot soaked chickpeas recipe to cook soaked chickpeas at home easily. To use canned chickpeas to make chana saag curry, drain and rinse them with clean water to remove extra salt.
- Greens - I used only spinach in this recipe. But you could use any of these leafy greens - Mustard leaves, radish leaves, kale, fenugreek leaves, swiss chard, collard greens, baby spinach. And the final taste of saag will depend on the greens used. If you use more mustard greens, radish, fenugreek leaves, and kale, curry will be pungent and take more time to cook.
- Spices - Like all my recipes, this recipe also uses minimal Indian spices like - ground cumin, coriander powder, red chili powder, turmeric powder, and garam masala powder.
Detailed Steps
Step 1: Heat a saute pan or skillet over medium heat, and once it is hot, add oil, finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic, and sliced green chili (use jalapeno for less spicy version).
Step 2: Over medium heat, cook the onion mixture till it turns translucent. I cooked for around 5 minutes.
Step 3: Add turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and salt to this onion mixture.
Step 4: Mix everything well and make sure that it isn't burnt. If the pan is too hot, add a tablespoon of water to avoid burning the spices.
Step 5: Now goes the finely chopped spinach and cook it on medium to high flame for about 5 to 6 minutes.
Step 6: If you are using other greens, cook it for till done. Once it cools down, make a coarse or smooth paste as you like.
Step 7: Heat another deep-bottomed pan or a dutch oven and oil and chopped tomatoes. And let the tomatoes cook for a couple of minutes.
Step 8: Now add cooked chickpeas and red chili powder. Add half a cup of water and let chickpeas simmer on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
Step 9: To this chickpeas mixture, add the saag sauce and mix everything well. Adjust the water according to your liking and let it simmer for 3 or 4 minutes.
Step 10: Here I used cashew cream and cooked it for a couple more minutes.
Delicious chana saag is ready to serve with basmati rice or naan bread. Make my Indian basmati rice recipe also and enjoy restaurant style meal at home.
Serving suggestions
I love to pair it with spiced basmati rice. But it goes very well with naan bread or any Indian flatbread like roti or paratha. You can also use this as a sandwich spread or taco filling.
Storage
Leftover saag tastes well as all flavors infuse. You can store the chana saag in the refrigerator for a day or two. To use it for more days, freeze the curry and use it within three months.
I prefer to make saag sauce in large quantities, freeze it in portion sizes, and make this curry when needed.
As you are here, you will like my other vegetarian curry recipes.
Lentil coconut curry - Earthy brown lentil curry with spinach and coconut milk
Black bean curry - Easy and creamy black bean curry with staple ingredients.
Kidney beans curry - Easy and flavorful bean curry with seasonal veggies.
Instant pot chickpea curry - Quick and delicious chickpea curry using an Instant pot.
Spinach and potato curry - Quick curried potatoes and spinach with basic spices.
Have you tried this Indian Spinach Chickpea Curry recipe? Provide your feedback by giving a star rating and/or leaving comments. And don't forget to share the recipe with others on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter.
Recipe
Chana Saag (Indian Spinach and Chickpeas Curry)
Rate this recipe by clicking the stars!
Equipment
- Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 3 cups chickpeas cooked or canned
- 12 ounces spinach
- 1 cup tomatoes finely chopped
- ½ cup onion chopped
- ½ cup water
- 2 tablespoon cashew cream optional
- 2 green chili or jalapeno
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic grated or finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon ginger grated or finely chopped
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 teaspoon salt adjust according to taste
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- Heat a saute pan or skillet over medium heat, and once it is hot, add 1 tablespoon oil, finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic, and sliced green chili (use jalapeno for less spicy version).
- Over medium heat, cook the onion mixture till it turns translucent. I cooked for around 5 minutes.
- Add turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and salt to this onion mixture.
- Mix everything well and make sure that it isn't burnt. If the pan is too hot, add a tablespoon of water to avoid burning the spices.
- Now goes the finely chopped spinach and cook it on medium to high flame for about 5 to 6 minutes.
- If you are using other greens, cook it for more time.
- By this time, spinach will be wilted and cooked entirely, and you will not see any water in it. Keep this spinach mixture aside and let it cool down a bit.
- Once it cools down, make a coarse or smooth paste as you like and keep it aside.
- Heat a deep-bottomed pan or a dutch oven and remaining oil and chopped tomatoes. And let the tomatoes cook for a couple of minutes.
- Now add cooked chickpeas and red chili powder. Add half a cup of water and let chickpeas simmer on low heat for 4 to 5 minutes.
- To this chickpeas mixture, add the saag sauce and mix everything well. Adjust the water according to your liking and let it simmer for 3 or 4 minutes.
- Traditional saag will use maize flour to get the thick porridge-like consistency (Check recipe notes to use maize flour). Here I used cashew cream and cooked it for a couple more minutes.
- Delicious chana saag is ready to serve with basmati rice or naan bread.
Instant pot Instructions
- Start the Instant pot in saute mode. Once it is hot, add oil, finely chopped onions, ginger, garlic, and sliced green chili. Let it cook for a couple of minutes.
- Add finely chopped tomatoes and spice powders - turmeric powder, ground cumin, coriander powder, garam masala powder, red chili powder, and salt. Mix everything well.
- Now add cooked chickpeas and water. Mix it well and deglaze the pot if required.
- Stop the instant pot saute mode and close it with its lid.
- Start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook it for 5 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the Instant pot finishes cooking, wait for 5 minutes and manually release the pressure.
- Start the Instant pot again in saute mode and add finely chopped greens. I used only spinach, but you can use any greens.
- If using only spinach, cook it for 2 to 3 minutes. If using other greens like mustard or kale, cook it for around 5 minutes or until they are cooked thoroughly. And once done, switch off the Instant pot.
- Instant pot Chana Saag is ready to serve!
Notes
- The traditional saag recipe uses maize flour for the thickness of the curry.
- If you want to use maize flour, take a tablespoon of maize flour and make a slurry using water. Add this maize flour slurry along with saag sauce and simmer it for 10 minutes.
- Add more water if needed and stir in between to prevent the saag from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- If you are using maize flour, we need to cook it for more time as the maize flour takes time to cook.
- You can also use cashew cream or coconut cream to thicken this chickpea spinach curry. I used cashew cream in this recipe, and the taste of saag will vary accordingly.
- Once you take the dish out of the heat, you can add a splash of lemon juice.
- I sometimes add ½ teaspoon of dry mango powder to make the saag a little tangy.
- This recipe yields semi-dry consistency curry. You can add more water or coconut milk to adjust the consistency.
- Usually, restaurants use cream, so I used cashew cream here to make it vegan. You can use coconut cream as well.
- Make sure to use spinach also, even if using other greens. Otherwise, curry might be bitter or pungent.
- You can use frozen spinach also to make this curried chickpeas and spinach. Just replace fresh spinach with frozen spinach.
- Instead of fresh tomatoes, you can use the same quantity of tomato puree. Or you can use tomato paste (a tablespoon as it is more concentrated).
Megan Hill says
This was fantastic! I only had one can of chickpeas but it left a bunch of wonderful delicious sauce then to eat with naan. Used coconut cream to thicken. Easy to make on a weeknight. This goes into the rotation.
Amy Feder says
It’s okay. I had to add a lot more garam masala and garlic. It was bland. I would just really up the spices!
Sue says
I live rural what can i use instead of maize or cashew cream?
Sravanthi says
You can skip both, and the curry will be delicious without them. But if you want to thicken the curry, add any type of flour or roasted Bengal gram powder. You could also add any nut butter if that is available to you. You can also mash some of the chickpeas to thicken the curry.