Chholey Palak | Indian Spiced Spinach and Chickpea Curry [Vegan + Gluten Free]

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Chholey Palak, Chane Palak, Saag Chholey or the Spinach and Chickpea Curry is a delectable North Indian Recipe that is seasoned with some freshly ground fragrant spices, making it oh so flavorful and yummilicious. This beautiful curry makes for a perfect treat to be served on special occasions and dinner parties along with aromatic zeera rice, garlic naan or lachcha parantha on the side. It pairs really well with some crisp pooris too. Not to mention, chholey palak is packed with whole lots of nutrition and goodness of spinach, making it an ideal meal to be served to kids as well.

You may notice that this recipe is bit lengthy so, to ease my job, I often keep a batch of blanched and frozen spinach puree stored in my refrigerator. Trust me, the frozen puree provides me with all the convenience and flexibility of using it anytime in any recipe that I wish to, be it PALAK PANEER, ARBI PALAK MASALA or PALAK CHICKEN. You may also go ahead and store the puree frozen; and I am sure this tip would really prove to be helpful, especially in case when you are a working mother.

Without wasting any time further, let's move on to the recipe now...



Chholey Palak | Indian Spiced Spinach and Chickpea Curry


Ingredients

  • Chickpeas - 1 and 1/2 cups
  • Spinach (cleaned and washed) - 2 cups
  • Onions (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
  • Tomatoes (pureed) - 3/4 cup
  • Ginger (finely chopped) - 2 tsp
  • Garlic (finely chopped) - 2 tsp
  • Green chilies (finely chopped) - 2
  • Salt - as per taste
  • Red chili powder - 1 tsp
  • Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
  • Bay leaf - 1
  • Black pepper corns - 4 to 5
  • Cloves - 3 to 4
  • Cinnamon - 1 inch
  • Oil - 3 tbsp

Spice Powder Ingredients
  • Kashmiri red chilies - 2
  • Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
  • Whole coriander seeds - 2 tsp
  • Cloves - 7 to 8
  • Black pepper corns - 8 to 10
  • Green cardamoms - 2 to 3
  • Black cardamom - 1/2
  • Bay leaf - 1
  • Anaardana - 2 tsp
For Tempering
  • Whole Kashmiri red chili - 1 to 2
  • Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
  • Finely chopped ginger and garlic - 2 tsp
  • Ghee - 1/2 tbsp


Chholey Palak | Indian Spiced Spinach and Chickpea Curry


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Chholey Palak | Indian Spiced Spinach and Chickpea Curry


Method

  1. Wash and soak the chickpeas overnight.
  2. Pressure cook them until soft along with 2 cups of water, a tsp of salt, bay leaf, cinnamon, black pepper corns and cloves.
  3. While chickpeas are cooking, bring about 3 to 4 glasses of water to a boil in a saucepan. Also, keep a bowl of iced water handy.
  4. As soon as the water comes to a boil, add in the spinach and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
  5. Transfer the wilted spinach leaves immediately into the iced water.
  6. Next, drain the water from the spinach and puree into a smooth paste. Keep aside.
  7. Dry roast the whole spices in a pan until aromatic.
  8. Let them cool and then grind to a coarse powder. Keep this aside too.
  9. In a kadhai or a wok, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add chopped ginger and garlic. Saute until golden. Next, add the chopped onions and green chilies. Saute until onions are nice golden in color.
  10. Season with salt, red chili powder, turmeric powder and 2 tbsp of freshly ground spice mix. Stir nicely and add tomato puree.
  11. Cover and cook on slow heat until oil separates.
  12. Next, add the blanched spinach and boiled chickpeas (without water). Again cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes. 
  13. For the tempering, heat some oil. Once the oil is hot, add cumin seeds, chopped ginger and garlic. Fry until ginger and garlic turn golden. Switch off the heat and add dry whole Kashmiri chilies.
  14. Pour over the curry and serve hot with rice or any flatbread of your choice.


Chholey Palak | Indian Spiced Spinach and Chickpea Curry


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