Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. This season, in keeping with the festive theme, I made a spicy palak chole, chickpeas cooked in a sweet and spicy tomato gravy with fresh spinach. My dad was hungry and I cooked up this recipe based on what we had in our pantry–a few cans of garbanzo beans, tomato puree and spinach. High in protein and iron from the spinach, this dish was a big hit with the fam. Hope you enjoy!
Red and Green Palak Chhole
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 2 cans garbanzo beans rinsed well
- 1 can of tomato puree
- 1 med onion chopped
- 1 red pepper sliced
- 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste
- 1/2 cinnamon stick
- 3-4 cloves
- 3 cardamom pods
- 3-4 peppercorns
- red chili powder
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- salt to taste
- cilantro
- kasoori methi optional
- Half a bag of fresh baby spinach chopped
Instructions
- Add a little bit of vegetable oil to a pot, I used a cast iron skillet which gets very hot, but leaves the food very flavorful. Add the dry spices to the oil (cinnamon, cardamom, peppercorn, clove) and allow it to heat.
- Add onions once oil is hot and saute for a few minutes.
- Add 1 tbsp ginger-garlic paste and saute until onions are translucent. Add 1/2 tsp turmeric and 1-2 tsp red chili powder and salt
- Add 1 red pepper, sliced.
- Add tomato puree and another tsp of oil and cook well. You can optionally add 1 tsp of ghee, or clarified butter for flavor.
- Cook this gravy well, for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally and adding water when needed so it does not burn. Add 1 to2 tsp of red chilli powder and salt.
- Tomato puree gives a nice gravy, but can get a bit acidic. To reduce the acidity, add a tsp or so of sugar.
- Once the gravy is well cooked, add 2 cups of water and chickpeas and simmer on low for about 20 minutes. The longer you cook beans, the more flavorful they become.
- When this has thickened, add in the finely chopped fresh spinach. Stir and remove from flame. You can optionally add 1 pinch of kasoori methi for seasoning at this point.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro, and serve with basmati rice!
