Chana Palak Masala (Indian Spinach-Chickpea Stew)

Last year was one of transition for me and I spent most of the year living in Minneapolis.  While there, I made a few friends who are originally from India, one of whom cooks beautifully :)  I then got to spend a month in India for business and that solidified my obsession with Indian food.  Small problem was that I came back from India with a few extra pounds!  Traditionally prepared, most Indian food is heavy on oil and cream.  However, many of the dishes are vegetarian and can be easily adjusted to make healthy and still incredibly delicious!  It's the spices that I especially love and I'm on a quest to learn more and more Indian recipes :)  Luckily Happy Herbivore and I think alike so I borrowed this one from her.  I guess you could say I'm obsessed with Indian food AND with Happy Herbivore :)  I'm good with that!

I've made this twice so far.  The first time I left the spinach pieces too big, which made it a little awkward to eat.  The second time I chopped the spinach in my food processor and I really liked the consistency of the stew this way!  We ate it with corn tortillas since I did not have Indian bread.  I recently found a recipe for whole-wheat roti though so it's only a matter of time until you see that recipe here too I'm sure :)

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 whole garlic cloves, minced
• 12 ounces peeled whole tomatoes (canned, low-sodium)
• 15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 12 ounces chopped spinach, fresh
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp coriander
• ½ tsp mild curry powder
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ¼ tsp ground ginger
• a dash of red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
• 1 tsp garam masala

 

Instructions

Serves 2-4

1. Dice onions and mince garlic, set aside.
2. Chop spinach to desirable size (I put mine in the food processor and pulsed it about 5 times to get a finely chopped size).
3. In a large pot, saute onions and garlic in 1/4 cup of water.
4. Once onions are translucent, add spinach, chickpeas, tomatoes with their juices and broth. Cover and cook over medium heat until spinach cooks down and is deep green.
5. Uncover and break tomatoes apart using a spatula or spoon.
6. Add all spices except garam masala, also add lemon juice if using. Cover and cook for 3 minutes.
7. Add 1/2 garam masala and cook for 2 more minutes more.
8. Taste, adding additional garam masala if desired plus salt and pepper if needed.
9. Turn heat off and allow to sit for 5 minutes. Serve with whole wheat roti, naan or tortillas.