Vegan Palak Chana (and variations)

This recipe was inspired by the palak paneer recipe I discovered at www.vegrecipesofindia.com.  If you head there, you can watch a video of making the palak that may be very helpful to you.   If you are a fan of palak or saag dishes, this is a wonderful way to incorporate fresh spinach that makes it very easy to handle.  You'll need a stock pot, blender and two saute pans for smoothest operation here.  I've adapted the recipe for vegans, but it is just as easy to make palak paneer or with shrimp, scallops or chicken.  The recipe is made in three parts.

Serves 4

PART 1: fresh spinach puree

INGREDIENTS

2 bunches of spinach or 1 bunch turnip greens or mustard greens… or mix and match (You can also use frozen spinach here
2-4 jalapeño peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
2-4 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

Rinse the spinach well while bringing a large pot of water to boil over high heat.   The easiest technique I've found is to put the plug in a very clean sink, place a colander with the spinach loosely in it and fill the sink with water.  Once filled, swish the spinach releasing and residual dirt or sand then drain the sink.  Spritz the spinach once over to remove any remaining dirt.

Once the water is boiling, add a healthy pinch of salt.  When the water again boils turn off the heat, add the spinach, cover and allow the spinach to steep for 2-3 minutes.  Drain the water from the spinach through your colander and then immediately immerse the spinach in ice cold water.  This keeps the spinach from turning brown.  Again drain the spinach squeezing out much of the water.

Once the cool spinach is drained, add the spinach, peppers, garlic and ginger to your blender or food processor.  Puree until smooth.  Set aside.


Part 2: chana (chick peas) and veggies

INGREDIENTS
1T madras curry powder
1t ground cumin
1/2 t tumeric
1/2 t ground cayenne pepper
1/2 t freshly ground coriander powder
Puerto-Rican style sofrito or cilantro pesto

2T olive oil
1 12-oz can of chick peas (garbanzo beans); drained, rinsed and dried
1 red bell pepper, cut in ribbons
6 oz package of white button mushrooms, sliced

Begin preparing the veggies by rinsing and draining  the chick peas very well in a colander.  Shake the water off and then pour the chick peas into a clean dish towel and allow to dry while you prepare your veggies.

Next, roast the spices.  This is best done in a high quality heavy-bottomed stainless skillet because it will be much easier to control the heat. To do this, measure all of your ground spices into a small, dry stainless steel sauté  pan.  Bring the spices to temperature over medium-high flame while watching carefully.  Once you see the spices start to smoke or change color slightly, begin moving them around the pan with a wooden spoon or by gently shaking the pan continuously until your spice mixture is homogenous and color and is approximately the color of caramel.  Take the roasted spices off the heat and set them aside.

Place a large skillet on medium-high heat.  Once hot, add the olive oil and then the dried off chick peas.  Any residual water will splatter, so be careful when adding them to the hot pan. Allow the chick peas to brown while cooking.  Once they begin to brown, reduce the heat to medium and add the remaining vegetables along with the sofrito (cilantro pesto) and sauté until the mushrooms start to shrink and look moist. Once this starts to happen, you can add the roasted spices and continue sautéing the vegetables until they are thoroughly cooked.  

Once thoroughly cooked, set the mixture aside. You will add it to the spinach puree later.


PART 3: palak chana

INGREDIENTS
spinach puree (from Part 1)
chana and veggies (from Part 2)
2 T olive oil
3/4 t cumin seeds
1 bay leaf
1/2 medium yellow or white onion, finely chopped
1 medium tomato, finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t tumeric powder
1/2 t red chili powder (optional)
pinch asafoetida or 1/2 inch of minced ginger root
1/2 t garam masala
1-2 T almond milk, whole milk or cream (optional)
sea salt
1t crushed kasuri methi (fenugreek) leaves **OPTIONAL:  DO NOT USE IF PEANUT ALLERGY EXISTS

Heat a stock pot or large sauté pan over medium high heat.  Add the cumin seeds to essentially fry them for about 1 minute.  Turn down the heat to medium and add the onion and bay leaf.  Cook for several minutes until the onion is browned.  When it is finished, it will look like this picture.

Now, add the garlic and chopped tomato and sauté until the tomatoes are softened.  Add the turmeric, chili powder and asafetida (or ginger) and saute for another minute or two.  Now, add the the spinach puree and the sautéed vegetables.  If the mixture is a little too dry, add 1/4 cup of water.  
Simmer on medium heat for 6-7 minutes to cook the spinach.  Add salt to taste (no more than a small pinch) and the garam masala.

Add  the almond milk and simmer for another minute.  If you are going to add the fenugreek leaves, now is the time to do it.  Remember that people with peanut allergies will have trouble with fenugreek.  You are ready to serve, so go ahead and remove the bay leaf.

Enjoy with rice, roti or nan!

VARIATIONS

More traditional vegetarian:  Use ghee or unsalted butter in place of oil and cream instead of almond milk.  Add paneer (homemade Indian cheese) to the vegetable sauté in part 2.

More traditional; not vegetarian: Add 1/2 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp to the vegetable sauté in part 2.

Condiments to Consider:  Top with ghee, cream, mango chutney or make a mustard oil-coriander-tomato chutney.  You could also top it with raita or coriander-lime yogurt. 

To make the chutney, heat 2 T of olive oil over medium high heat in a pan with a lid.  Once hot, add 1T of mustard seed.  Cover immediately and allow mustard seeds to pop open.  Once popping is done, remove from heat.  Chop a bunch of cilantro leaves (rinsed and stemmed), 2 medium tomatoes and a 2-3 green onions if you like. Combine with the mustard oil.  Can be kept refrigerated for a few days or frozen in ice-cube trays for later use.  If you want to freeze any herb like this (sofrito, pesto, etc), you can freeze it in ice cube trays and once frozen, store in a baggie for up to a year.