When looking for a healthy and easy side dish/curry to make, this Palak Chana or chickpeas and spinach curry is the best recipe ever. Made with fresh spinach and garbanzo beans, this curry tastes delicious with roti or rice.
Curries like these are comfort meals for me. I love making curry that is loaded with flavor. This palak chana is so easy to make and so delicious.
I love the summer months for the freshly harvested vegetables from our backyard. This year we have been very successful in growing greens as we had a much cooler summer.
Table of contents
We had great success with Malabar spinach and have been cooking all summer with it. Also called Pasalai Keerai in Tamil, Malabar spinach tastes great raw as well as in recipes like Palak Paneer, Palak Raita, Spinach rice, and Keerai Molagootal.
We love greens as is and apart from spinach we also had a wonderful crop of beets this year.
We enjoyed the beet greens more than the beets themselves and cooked with them several times. If you are looking to make recipes with beetroot leaves, make sure to try the Beetroot leaves poriyal / stir fry and the Beet greens dal.
Why does this recipe work?
Most of the time when we think of curry with palak/spinach, I tend to lean towards palak paneer or palak tofu. A few years back my friend Arthi introduced me to this version of Palak Subzi and we loved it right away. Here are a few reasons, why this recipe works very well for us.
- Chickpeas or garbanzo beans are a great source of plant protein and are very easy to cook.
- Canned chickpeas work great when short on time and hence the recipe is a great option for weeknight dinners.
- Spinach cooks extremely quickly and tastes delicious with the simple spices used in this recipe.
- Fresh or frozen spinach both work equally well. I always have a couple of bags of frozen spinach in the freezer to make quick recipes like this.
- Palak chana can be served with rice or roti. I love it with my quinoa as well.
- This chickpeas and spinach subzi freezes very well.
Ingredients and substitutes
Check the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact measurements and printable detailed recipes.
Chickpeas / Chana / Garbanzo beans - I like to start with dried chickpeas and then soak them and cook them to use in the palak chana recipe. Canned chickpeas work just as well and save quite a bit of time and prep work. I make this with the white garbanzo beans, but the black chana would also work.
Spinach / Palak - I have used fresh as well as frozen spinach to make this recipe. When in season, I use fresh spinach from our backyard or the farmer's markets.
Vegetables - I use onion, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic in the recipe. The ginger and garlic can be skipped as well.
Spices and spice powders - I use cumin seeds along with turmeric powder, red chili powder, and garam masala. All the spices can be found in Indian grocery stores or online. Use salt to taste.
Oil - I make this using oil most of the time. Sometimes, I make it using both oil and ghee.
Step-by-step process
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water. Replace the water and cook it in a pressure cooker with salt. If using Canned Chickpeas, drain the chickpeas from the can onto a colander and rinse it well.
- Clean the spinach leaves and saute them in a pan with 1 teaspoon of oil until they shrivel and cook (1). It does not take long at all. If using frozen spinach, thaw the spinach in the microwave or cook it until soft in a pan.
- Once the leaves are cooked (2), blend them until nice and smooth. You could use a blender to grind it or use a hand blender (3). If using a blender, wait until the spinach cools down completely before grinding it.
- In a pan, heat the remaining oil. I usually use a combination of oil and ghee but when cooking for my vegan friends, I skip the ghee and use just oil.
- Add cumin seeds and let it crackle (4). Now add the chopped onions. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt, and garam masala and mix well (5). Keep in mind that we cooked the chickpeas with salt. So add salt accordingly.
- Now add the chopped tomatoes (6). Cook it until the tomatoes are mushy and come together as gravy.
- Add the pureed spinach and bring it to ba oil over medium heat.
- Add the cooked chickpeas and mix well (7). Bring it to a boil again and let it simmer for about 10 minutes mixing in between.
- Serve hot with roti or rice.
Expert Tips
- Soak the chickpeas overnight and then cook it the next day. I use my Instant Pot to cook the dried chickpeas.
- I also like to cook it in bulk and then freeze the chickpeas. This way I have a batch ready to make this palak chana, chana chat, or Mediterranean chickpea salad.
- Cook the chickpeas with salt. This makes it more flavorful.
- Start with a good quantity of spinach. They shrink a lot!!
Frequently asked questions
Yes, Palak Chana is vegan and is a great alternative to Palak Paneer. It is also gluten-free. Make sure to buy certified gluten-free spices or grind your own to make sure there is no cross-contamination.
I love eating Palak chana with roti or a simple jeera rice. I also make it as a side for my quinoa, which I often substitute for rice.
I refrigerate the leftovers if planning to use them in the next day or two. If I am planning on using it later, I would freeze the curry. Make sure to freeze it in portions for easy thawing and reheating.
More Spinach Recipes
If you made this recipe and liked it, give a star rating on the recipe card or let me know in the comments below. You could also share it with me on Instagram using #MyCookingJourney and tagging me @sandhya.ramakrishnan. You could follow me and my recipes on Facebook |Instagram | Pinterest | twitter
Recipe
Palak Chana | Chickpeas and Spinach Curry
Equipment
- Instant Pot
- Blender
Ingredients
- ¾ cup Chana / chickpeas uncooked
- 12 Oz Palak / spinach Big bunch of fresh spinach or 12 Oz of frozen
- 1 cup Onion chopped
- ¾ cup Tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon Ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon Garlic paste
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1 ½ teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoon Oil
Instructions
- Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water. Replace the water and cook it in a pressure cooker with salt. If using Canned Chickpeas, drain the chickpeas from the can onto a colander and rinse it well.
- Clean the spinach leaves and saute it in a pan with 1 teaspoon of oil until they shrivel and cook. It does not take long at all. If using frozen spinach, thaw the spinach in the microwave or cook it until soft in a pan.
- Once the leaves are cooked, blend it until nice and smooth. You could use a blender to grind it or use a hand blender. If using a blender, wait until the spinach cools down completely before grinding it.
- In a pan, heat the remaining oil. I usually use a combination of oil and ghee but when cooking for my vegan friends, I skip the ghee and use just oil.
- Add cumin seeds and let it crackle. Now add the chopped onions. Sauté until the onions are translucent.
- Add turmeric powder, red chili powder, salt and garam masala and mix well. Keep in mind that we cooked the chickpeas with salt. So add salt accordingly.
- Now add the chopped tomatoes. Cook it until the tomatoes are mushy and comes together as gravy.
- Add the pureed spinach and bring it to boil over medium heat.
- Add the cooked chickpeas and mix well. Bring it to a boil again and let it simmer for about 10 mins mixing in between.
- Serve with pulkas or rice!
Notes
- Soak the chickpeas overnight and then cook it the next day. I use my instant pot to cook the dried chickpeas.
- I also like to cook it in bulk and then freeze the chickpeas. This way I have a batch ready to make this palak chana, chana chat or Mediterranean chickpea salad.
- Cook the chickpeas with salt. This makes it more flavorful.
- Start with a good quantity of spinach. They shrink a lot!!
JoAnn Yaworski-Usher says
I have been unsuccessfully trying to make a vegan palak paneer for over a year since our favorite (Star of India) restaurant closed. My husband said that we finally have a dish we can make at home that tastes as good as the restaurant's. We were paying $52.00 for three meals and now we can feed three people for about $7.00. Thank-you, Sandhya, for the easy to print recipe cards that I can take to the grocery store to make sure I have all ingredients before cooking.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
I am so happy that this recipe worked for your family. Indian food is way cheaper to make at home and yes it can overwhelming to start, but once we start cooking it gets easier. Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Sharmila Ashok says
Palaklicious !!Man, can we use Palak chopped in sabki instead of sauting and pureeing,like any other leaf veggies?
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Yes Sharmila, you can use chopped palak.
Poonam bachhav says
I cook palak paneer and palak corn often, now I have one more combo to try out. Your curry sounds so delicious and flavorful.
Pavani says
I am always looking for new recipes with greens and this palak chana turned out absolutely delicious. A perfect accompaniment for both rice or roti.
Katerina | Once a Foodie says
This curry looks absolutely delightful, Sandhya! Thanks so much for sharing.
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Thanks a lot!
Avin Kohli says
This humble vegetarian dish is a staple in my house. Lovely easynshare!
hem lata srivastava says
Seems delicious usually we make palak with dhuli urad dal or dhuli moong dal never tried with chickpeas. Your curry looks absolutely amazing.
Mayuri Patel says
Sooo tempting. Love making palak chana or palak chole as they are popularly known as. Easy to make and so delicious. Sometimes I add coconut milk for that creamy texture.
Amrita Roy says
Chana palak is also a favorite dish at home. I love the way you have explained the detailed recipe.lovely pictures
Lata Lala says
We Sindhi's generally make palak along with chana dal. Your recipe of palak with chana sounds so interesting and healthy too Sandhya. Would love to give it a go soon.
Bless my food by Payal says
I used to think that palak paneer is a match made in heaven but never knew palak can have extramarital relations with chana too....lol
But this new combo sounds interesting and must be very delicious.
Seema Sriram says
Since paneer is a luxury palak channa sounds so exciting for week night dinenrs. this will actually get more palak in the tummies than the usual!
Lisa says
Quick and easy (I like to get the spices prepped/measured to make it faster). This was delicious. The only change I made was that I did not puree the fresh spinach. I enjoyed it being sauteed.
Can't wait to enjoy the leftovers for lunch!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
Lisa, thanks for trying the recipe. I love to have my prep work done ahead and that saves so much time.
Priya R says
Unique combination and looks so good 🙂
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Priya!
Swathi Iyer says
Delicious I love your combo of palak and chana here. Yumm.
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Swathi! My friend taught this combo and now I make this more often than palak paneer 🙂
Vijayalakshmi Dharmaraj says
yummy akka...
Rasgulla
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Viji! Your rasgullas look delicious as well 🙂
priya satheesh says
Protein packed curry...Healthy!
My Cooking Journey says
Totally Priya 🙂 Loaded with protein minus the fat !
Nivedhanams Sowmya says
This dish is screaming healthy and so delicious!!! love the flavors!!!
Sowmya
Ongoing Event - Let's Party - Eggless Bakes and Treats
Ongoing Event - SYF & HWS - Ginger
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Sowmya! They are really delicious 🙂
Aruna Manikandan says
nice combo...
looks healthy and delicious 🙂
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Aruna!
Meena B says
nice one sandy. it has been ages since i used palak with chana. i had made it yrs ago bt wud make it again now
My Cooking Journey says
Thanks Aunty! You should teach us more recipes like this..