Palak Chole Masala | Spinach Chickpea Curry
Healthy & Tasty Accompaniment!
Palak Chole is another vegetarian gravy that is served as an accompaniment for Roti/Naan or Pulav. Chickpeas is cooked with spinach and tossed with onion-tomato gravy along with mild spices. We all make Chole masala very often. This chole masala can enhanced with palak (any greens) and make it much richer and healthier. We can make this gravy as no-onion no-garlic version too.
Two ways to cook Palak Chole
- We can first blanch and puree the spinach. Then toss the spinach puree into chole masala
- We can cook the chole and gravy and toss the chopped spinach into the gravy along with cooked chole and concoct everything to a flavorful Palak Chole
I have given here the 2nd method of making Palak Chole.
I usually have a stock of Store-bought chole masala powder which I use as a spice powder for this masala. If you don’t have a stock, you can use the garam masala. The main differentiating ingredient in chole masala is ananrdhana. Its the dry pomegranate seeds. So If we don’t have chole masala, you can use garam masala and ananrdhana powder. Try this version of Palak Chole and share your comments!
Recipe Card:
Palak Chole Recipe | Spinach Chickpea Curry
Equipments Needed
- Pressure Cooker
- Mixer Grinder
- Heavy Bottomed Pan
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Chickpeas (Kondakadalai) 1 Cup - 250ml
- 3 Cups Spinach Tightly packed
- 1 Onion
- 1 tsp Salt Adjust As Needed
- 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves For Garnishing
Whole Masalas
- 1 inch Cinnamon
- 2 Cardamom
- 4 Cloves
- 1 Bay Leaf
Spice Powders
- 1 tsp Coriander Powder
- 1 tsp Red Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Chole Masala We can add garam masala instead.
Ingredients for Grinding
- 2 Tomato Roughly chopped
- 2 Green Chili
- 2" Ginger
- 2 Garlic cloves
Instructions
Soaking Chole
- Wash and soak Chole overnight or atleast for 6 hours in hot water
Preparing Spinach
- Remove palak leaves from its stem. Soak all the spinach leaves in water for about 20 mins. Soaking process let the dust/sand settle down in water. After 20 mins, we can squeeze the leaves and take it gently without stirring the water. That way the dust/sand settles down and we can discard the water.
- Chop the spinach and set aside
Cooking Chole
- Drain the water from soaked chole. Add 2 cups of fresh water along with 1 teaspoon of salt
- Take a small piece of muslin cloth or any clean white cloth. Add the whole garam masala and bring all the edges of the cloth together and tie it and make it like a potli. Add this potli to the chickpeas
- Pressure cook the chickpeas for 4-5 whistles. Allow the pressure to relase naturally. Discard the masala Potli and set the cooked chole aside. We don't need to strain excess water. We can use it for the gravy
Grinding Process
- Take tomato pieces along with green chili, ginger and garlic in a mixer jar. Grind everything to a smooth paste.
Cooking Palak Chole
- Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add chopped onions and saute the onion till translucent
- Then add ground Tomato paste to the pan. Also, add coriander powder, red chili powder and chole masala powder along with salt.
- Mix everything well. Cover & Cook in medium flame till the oil oozes out of the masala
- Once the masala is cooked, add chopped spinach and give a good mix. Let the spinach gets cooked for 5 mins
- Then add cooked chole along with the cooked water. Adjust salt if needed. Cover & Cook in low flame for about 8-10 mins.
- Finally garnish with coriander leaves
Serving Time
- Serve the delicious Palak Chole with Roti/Naan or pulao and enjoy the wonderful curry!
Notes
- We can make Palak Chole without onions and garlic.
- We can use garam masala and Anardhana powder instead of Chole Masala
Nutritional Info
Method with Step by Step Pictures:
SOAKING CHOLE
-
Wash and soak Chole overnight or atleast for 6 hours in hot water
PREPARING SPINACH
-
Remove palak leaves from its stem. Soak all the spinach leaves in water for about 20 mins. Soaking process let the dust/sand settle down in water. After 20 mins, we can squeeze the leaves and take it gently without stirring the water. That way the dust/sand settles down and we can discard the water.
-
Chop the spinach and set aside
COOKING CHOLE
-
Drain the water from soaked chole. Add 2 cups of fresh water along with 1 teaspoon of salt. Take a small piece of muslin cloth or any clean white cloth. Add the whole garam masala and bring all the edges of the cloth together and tie it and make it like a potli. Add this potli to the chickpeas. Pressure cook the chickpeas for 4-5 whistles. Allow the pressure to relase naturally. Discard the masala Potli and set the cooked chole aside. We don’t need to strain excess water. We can use it for the gravy
GRINDING PROCESS
-
Take tomato pieces along with green chili, ginger and garlic in a mixer jar. Grind everything to a smooth paste.
COOKING PALAK CHOLE
-
Heat oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Add chopped onions and saute the onion till translucent. Then add ground Tomato paste to the pan.
-
Also, add coriander powder, red chili powder and chole masala powder along with salt. Mix everything well. Cover & Cook in medium flame till the oil oozes out of the masala
-
Once the masala is cooked, add chopped spinach and give a good mix. Let the spinach gets cooked for 5 mins
-
Then add cooked chole along with the cooked water. Adjust salt if needed. Cover & Cook in low flame for about 8-10 mins. Finally garnish with coriander leaves
SERVING TIME
-
Serve the delicious Palak Chole with Roti/Naan or pulao and enjoy the wonderful curry!
Mami thanks a lot.this looks very yummy and I shall try it by tomorrow itself. Mami I tried your recipe of vazhaipoo vadai sterday and it came out very well. Your blog is very useful for learners like me.
And I have a small clarification, when you mention ginger garlic paste, generally how many pieces of garlic would you suggest us to add for the paste and how much would be the ginger.
Thanks
Sowmya
Hi Sowmya
Thanks for your lovely comments. Reg Ginger-garlic paste, we can use 3-4 pieces of garlic and 2 inch ginger piece. Nowadays, ginger-garlic paste is readily available in shops thats and everyone starts using that instead of fresh ginger and garlic. But the fresh paste will always have a nice flavour.
Hello Madam,
Thanks a lot for all your recipes. I am from a south indian brahmin family and I almost look your site every other day to prepare food as i live abroad. The recipes are truly great and awesome. Thanks a lot.
In Palak Chhole, we dont need any kind of powder like Coriander or even chilli?
Thx
Hi Vg, Thanks for your lovely comments. In Palak Chole, we can very add coriander powder, chole masala powder and also red chilli powder. As I have seasoned all the masala ingredients and added chopped green chilli, I have not added coriander powder. But we can surely add the powders.