Chana Saag

I love saag. I have eaten it countless times in Indian restaurants, but I could never seem to cook it right. No matter what recipe I used, it never came out remotely similar to what I was used to. Then I found this post with a saag panir recipe from a restaurant in Houston. This gave me some ideas, so I adapted the recipe to fit my style and used chana instead of panir.

The result was mixed. The taste was great. It was very creamy, and much more like what I have been attempting to make. The problem, however, was consistency. The sauce was a little too creamy, and even after cooking the spinach had too much of a fibrous texture. It was still tough. This is not necesarily bad (it almost reminded me of an Indian version of spinach-artichoke dip), but it is not exactly what I was trying to get. In addition, the last 5 minutes were not long enough to integrate the chana. Next time, I think I will omit the 1/2 and 1/2 and add the chana in much earlier. For the spinach, I will either try canned spinach or add the entire mixture (pre-chana) to the food processor to blend. (Some have also suggested using mustard greens or mixing mustard greens and spinach to better approximate the true Indian greens.)

All in all, this was not bad. Even though the consistency is not what I was going for, that didn't stop me from finishing the bowl! The flavors were quite good and well blended.

Chana Saag

1 small onion, diced very fine
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 pack frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup plain yogurt
4 oz milk
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
1 cup half and half
1 can chick peas, drained
1 salt to taste


Melt butter. Sautee onions, garlic, ginger garlic paste, and Madras curry powder 10 minutes. Mix milk and yogurt together and add. Add spinach and cook 20 min on medium heat. Stir occasionally and lower heat if too much liquid evaporates. Add half and half and cook 10 min. Add chick peas and cook 5 min. Serve.