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Palak Chole Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (~200g) raw chickpeas or 15oz canned chickpeas, drained
  • 3 cup water
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 bay leaf
  • Pinch baking soda
  • 1 cup water
  • 4-5 broccoli florets, optional
  • 12-15 oz spinach
  • ⅛ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 2 clove
  • 4 tablespoon mustard oil (or any cooking oil of choice)
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seed
  • 1 small cinnamon stick
  • 2 green cardamom cloves
  • 2-3 Thai green chillies (adjust to tolerance), slit
  • 1 teaspoon garlic paste
  • ½ inch ginger julinned
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • ¾ teaspoon red chili powder hot, adjust to taste
  • 1 cup onion finely chopped
  • ¾ cup tomato (1 large tomato, finely chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon kasuri methi (dried fenugreek leaves, optional but recommended)
  • ¾ teaspoon garam masala or chana masala powder or kitchen king masala

Steps

  1. Wash the chickpeas under running water. Soak in enough water overnight(8-10 hours).
  2. Next morning, drain and add chickpeas to a pressure cooker with 3 cups water, oil and teaspoon salt.
  3. Pressure cook for 15-20 minutes or until they are soft. You could cook in instant pot as well. Discard the bay leaf and reserve the stock. Place the boiled chickpeas in a separate bowl.
  4. Thoroughly wash the spinach leaves. Roughly chop the stems and leaves if they are too big. If you feel that few stems are too stringy, discard.
  5. Add 1 cup water to a cooking pot along with cloves and fennel seeds. Bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling,broccoli florets to it. Let cook for 3-4 minutes and the add the spinach. Cook until the spinach has wilted and the broccoli is dark green in color.
  6. Add the vegetables along with leftover liquid to a food processor. Also add the cloves and fennel seeds. Pulse to make a puree. I do not like to make a smooth puree however you can blend to desired texture/consistency. Set the blended spinach aside.
  7. Heat up oil on high in a heavy bottomed cooking pot.
  8. Once the oil is smoky, reduce the heat to medium & wait for 1-2 minutes. Temper with cumin, cinnamon, and green cardamom. If you are using canned chickpeas, add a bay leaf as well.
  9. Add the garlic, green chillies and ginger next. Saute for 10-15 seconds taking care to not burn anything.
  10. Add the chopped onions next and sauté till the onions start to lightly brown.
  11. Next add all the ground spices(expect garam masala), add a bit of chicpea stock and saute the spices for a minute or so.
  12. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar next. Continue to cook on medium low heat till you see oil separating on the sides of the pot. The tomatoes will soften and turn mushy.This may take 5-8 minutes.
  13. Add the spinach and chickpeas and mix well. Sauté with masala for 5-7 minutes until you see that the spinach is bubbly.
  14. Reduce the heat to low, add the reserved chickpea stock depending on the consistency of the sauce you like (I add about ½ cup). Mix well. Taste and adjust the salt if needed. If you need to thin out more, add water. Cover and let cook on low for 15-18 minutes
  15. Check once or twice in between. The spinach will bubble a lot during cooking and you will need to stir it in between to avoid sticking to bottom. Also the spinach will change color to dull green and you will start seeing glisten on the sides of the pot. If you feel that the sauce is getting dry, add ¼ cup stock or water.
  16. Finish with kasuri methi and ¼ teaspoon garam masala. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm.