Chole Palak(Chickpeas in Spinach Gravy)

We Indians love our chole bhature so whenever the word chole is mentioned  side by side the bhatura pops up in our mind and if you are a South Indian    Keralite then the puttu will also pop up ;)  .
But what about the chole palak?? Well I had not tasted this dish before.. cos the dishes which are popular are mainly pindi channa, chole bhature with chickpeas and the aloo palak, palak paneer with Palak( spinach).and I have not attended so many north indian weddings so had not tasted it there either!!
One day I was killing my time watching recipe videos on Youtube and I chanced upon this recipe by Manjulas Kitchen. I had to try it.

N had specially bought the palak cos he wanted to have my 3P curry and I was in mood for  a change. I had already made the 3p twice in the past 2-3 weeks and did not want to have it again..Variety is the spice of life.. I go by that in everything except my man;)  .

So I decided to call N in the office and inform him of change in menu.. I knew he would come home looking forward to the 3P and he was like “ kuch khaas nahi hota maine khaya hai  , phir bhi tum apna shauk poora kar lo” (There is nothing special about that curry,I have tasted it,but its ok  u try) What he meant to say I think was this  “ Ok you go ahead and try your experiment,  I am sure you will not like it and so I will never ever have to eat  it”.

Okay , I decided to try it and I made the chole palak.For N’s reaction after  trying my chole palak…. not so fast.. that will come after the post…hehehehe…going ahead to the recipe.

Ingredients I used


Finely chopped palak-3 cups(that was one bunch we buy here, all stem removed)
Boiled and drained Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans/chole- 2 cups
Tomato-2 medium sized
Green chilli-1 (original redcipe used 2)
Ginger- 1inch piece
Hing /asfoetida-1/4thspn
Haldi/turmeric-1/4-1/2 spn
Jeera/cumin seeds-1tspn
Dhania powder/coriander powder-1tbspn
Red chilli powder-1/2 tspn(I used kashmiri chilly powder,if u like it spicy add the normal red chilli powder)
Garam Masala-1/2 tspn
Amchur/dry mango powder-say 1 tspn to sprinkle in the end.( original recipe did not use this)
Water-1 cup
Salt to taste
Refined oil- 2tbspn

Method
Grind the tomato , green chilli and ginger into a puree and keep aside.
Heat the oil  in a Kadai/Wok and put the cumin seeds in when the oil is hot.( you can check whether oil is hot by putting one cumin seed and it shuld splutter immediately).Add in the asfoetida also.

Once the cumin seeds splutter add in the tomato puree.,coriander powder,red chilli powder and the turmeric powder.Stir well and cook till it is reduced to half or it starts leaving the oil. This will take about 4-5 minutes.

Add the chopped palak ,salt and one cup water and cover with lid and cook for another 5 minutes on medium flame.
Add the boiled chickpeas in and mash a little(I ground  2-3 tablespoons  of chickpeas and added so that we get a good consistency for the gravy)
Let this cook for 7-8 minutes , now on low flame and still covered.Then add in the garam masala and cook for a minute.
Take off the stove and  add the amchur and  give it a good stir.your spicy tangy and protein rich nutritious curry is ready.Serve hot with roti,puris or naan of your choice.

I served it with hot puris!!

My notes:


If you want a thin gravy you can add more water.
The amchur was not added in original recipe , but I like the tanginess of amchur and hence added it.
Instead of mashing the chickpeas I ground some chickpeas and added.
Garam masal should always be added in the end.

Now for N’s verdict: ”mmmmmm….bahut acha hai..(its very good)..”he ended up eating 10 puris (normally its 6-7 max 8)and also had the leftover curry… so mera pappu(chole palak) pass ho gaya!!
Can,t wait to make it again cos I  loved this curry… it is a very very tasty recipe.. Do try it.

One way to get palak down kids throats! Make it with bhature!!

Events I am sending this to:

Curries and Gravies at Cuisine Delights