Chana Saag

Last night I decided to try out a new dish from Raghavan Iyer’s book, “660 Curries.” Before I get into the recipe, I must say that if you like Indian food and want restaurant-style results from your own kitchen, buy this book. Here’s a link to it. I chose to make Chana Saag, a Chickpea and Spinach curry with a mild spice blend and roasted mustard seeds. At the heart of this dish and any other curry is spice. I buy all my spices from my local co-op, The Merc, because I can get them in bulk and I like to know I’m shopping local (even if the spices come from parts of the world I’ll probably never see). There’s plenty of other spice providers out there, including more well-known shops like Penzeys but I can’t stress enough how helpful it is to have somewhere local I can go to get bulk spices. I also buy my spices whole for the most part and grind them in a spice grinder. Enough about spices though, time for the recipe.

This curry uses a Sambhar masala as its spice blend and, according to Iyer, the sambhar masalas are used to spice stew-like dishes known as, you guessed it, Sambhar. One of the more interesting things about this spice blend, to me, is the inclusion of yellow split-peas. The legumes in the ground spice blend help thicken the sauce in the dish and I was in awe of the creativity of thought to include a dried legume into a spice blend. Genius, I say. The recipe does call for one spice that I could not find in Lawrence: Curry Leaves. However, the spice blend is the only thing in this recipe that called for them and based on the description given by Iyer, the curry leaves would have added a mild, citrus flavor to the spice blend and to the overall dish. The recipe also calls for both ginger paste and fried-onion paste but to save on time I just used finely minced ginger and red onion. So without further delay, here’s the recipe, starting with the Sambhar masala.

Chickpeas with Spinach and Mustard Seeds (Chana Saag)

Recipe from “660 Curries” by Raghavan Iyer

Sambhar Masala

• 1/2 c. firmly packed medium-size to large fresh curry leaves
• 1/2 c. dried red Thai or cayenne chiles, stems removed
• 1/4 c. yellow split peas, picked over for stones
• 1/4 c. coriander seeds
• 2 tbs. cumin seeds
• 1 tbs. fenugreek seeds
• 1 tbs. black or yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tbs. white poppy seeds
• 2 cinnamon sticks (each 3 inches long), broken into smaller pieces
• 1 tbs. unrefined sesame oil or canola oil

Method

1. Combine all the spices in a medium-size bowl. Drizzle the oil over them and toss well, coating the spices evenly with the oil.
2. Preheat a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mixture and roast, stirring constantly, until the curry leaves curl up and appear dry and brittle, the chiles blacken slightly, the split peas turn dark brown, the coriander, cumin, and fenugreek turn reddish brown, the mustard seeds pop, swell up, and look ash-black, and the poppy seeds are tan. 3 to 4 minutes.
3. Immediately transfer the pungent, nutty-smelling spices to a plate to cool. Once they are cool to the touch, pour half of the mixture into a spice grinder or coffee grinder, and grind until the texture resembles that of finely ground black pepper. Transfer the ground blend to a small bowl. Repeat with the remaining spices, and thoroughly combine the two ground batches. The aromas of the light reddish-brown ground blend will be sweet and complex, very different from those of the pre-toasted and post-toasted whole spices.
4. Store in a tightly sealed container, away from excess light, heat, and humidity, for up to 2 months.

Tip – use caution with the chiles due to the large amount of them and be sure to use a lot of ventilation. These are extremely potent and known to cause coughing fits while roasting.

Chana Saag

• 2 tbs. Ghee or canola oil
• 1 tsp. black or yellow mustard seeds
• 1 tbs. Ginger Paste (or finely minced ginger)
• 2 tbs. Fried Onion Paste (or finely minced red onion)
• 2 tbs. tomato paste
• 2 tsp. Sambhar masala
• 2 tsp. coarse kosher or sea salt (or, to taste)
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas (I used 1 can chickpeas)
• 1 pound fresh spinach leaves, well rinsed and finely chopped

Method

1. Heat the ghee (or oil) in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds, cover the pan, and cook until the seeds have stopped popping, about 30 seconds. Lower the heat to medium and carefully add the Ginger Paste. Stir-fry until it is light brown, about 30 seconds.
2. Stir in the Fried Onion Paste, tomato paste, Sambhar masala, salt, and chickpeas. Stir to coat the chickpeas well with the hot-tart sauce. Add 2 cups water and heat to a boil.
3. Add the spinach, several handfuls at a time, stirring each batch in until wilted. When all the spinach has been added, reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer the curry, covered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened, 8 to 10 minutes.

I served this curry over brown rice with store-bought Naan on the side.

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