Chane ka Saag is a traditional Punjabi dish made with the tender, feathery greens of the chickpea plant. The greens are cooked with moong dal, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies and spices, then blended until smooth. It is finished with a flavorful onion tempering. Serve this mildly tangy Chana Saag with makki ki roti, bajra roti, jowar roti, phulka, chapati or paratha.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 25 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: North Indian

Ingredients

  • 150 grams/5 to 5½ cups chickpea leaves (– cleaned (tender chane ka saag))
  • 2 tablespoons moong dal (– husked & split mung lentils)
  • 1 medium tomato (– quartered)
  • 1 teaspoon or 1-inch ginger (– chopped)
  • 3 to 4 medium-sized or 1 teaspoon garlic (– chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon or 1 green chili (– chopped)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • ½ cup water
  • salt (as required)
  • 2 tablespoons mustard oil
  • ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 dry red chili (– broken and seeds removed)
  • 1 pinch asafoetida ((hing))
  • ⅓ cup or 1 medium-sized onion (– chopped)

Method

Preparation

  1. Firstly pluck the tender stems with leaves from the leaves. Do not use the hard or dense stems. Collect the tender small stems with leaves in pan or large bowl.
  2. Now add water in the pan or bowl and let the chane ka saag be immersed in the water for 2 to 3 minutes. Doing this helps to get rid of the mud or dust on the leaves as these settle down in the water.
  3. Drain all the water. again pour water in the bowl or pan.
  4. Gently swirl the leaves with your hands and then drain the water. Do this method 2 to 3 times more so that the saag is cleaned properly.
  5. Now drain all the water very well from the leaves. Chop the leaves.

Pressure Cooking

  1. In a 3 litre pressure cooker, take the chopped leaves.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons rinsed moong dal. Instead of moong dal, you can add makai ka atta (maize flour) or besan (gram flour) or bajra atta (sorghum flour)
  3. Add 1 medium tomato (quartered), 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and 1 green chili.
  4. Add 1 pinch asafoetida or salt as required. add ½ cup water.
  5. Pressure cook for 8 to 9 minutes or 4 to 5 whistles. Since I have used moong dal I have pressure cooked for more time. If using any of the flours mentioned above instead of moong dal, then you can pressure cook for about 5 to 6 minutes.
  6. When the pressure settles down on its own, open the lid. Keep it open so that the chana saag mixture becomes warm or cools down.
  7. When the saag mixture has become warm or cooled down, take it in a mixer-grinder jar or blender. You can also blend directly in the cooker with a hand held electric blender.
  8. Blend to a smooth consistency. Keep chana saag aside.

Tempering Chane ka Saag

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons mustard oil in a pan or kadai. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds.
  2. Let the cumin seeds crackle. then add 1 dry red chili (broken and seeds removed) and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing).
  3. Stir till the red chilies change color. Then add ⅓ cup finely chopped onions.
  4. Sauté onions till light brown or golden. Add the blended chana saag.
  5. Mix very well and simmer chane ka saag for 3 to 4 minutes or till it becomes hot.
  6. While simmering do stir often as the saag splutters. Later switch off the flame.
  7. Serve chane ka saag with makki ki roti or bajre ki roti or chapati or phulka.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.