Channa Saag
Get adventurous and try Julie Lin's Channa Saag recipe, made of mostly tinned ingredients.
Ingredients
- 2 heaped tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can tomatoes
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp turmeric
- 2 cardamom pods (optional)
- 1 can chickpeas (drained)
- 1 can of coconut milk
- spinach (400g tin or 200g-300g fresh or frozen)
- Veg oil to cover the bottom of your pan
- Lime juice to taste
- Salt to taste
- Sugar to taste (if tomatoes are bitter)
Paste ingredients
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 6cm ginger, peeled and then thoroughly chopped
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 2 fresh green chilli
Method
Begin by blending the paste ingredients together until smooth
Now using a non-stick pan, fry off the cardamom pods until fragrant, then add the paste. Fry the paste until its fragrant and starts to brown
Add the garam masala, cumin, ground coriander and turmeric and fry off for just a few seconds in the paste mix
Add the tomato paste, allow this to fry, and caramelise off a little with the paste before adding the can of chopped tomatoes
Rinse the empty can of tomatoes with water once and add this to the pan followed by the coconut milk
Add about 2-3 tbsp of salt and allow everything to simmer on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes
Now drain the chickpeas and rinse thoroughly
Add the chickpeas to the curry, and allow for them to simmer for five minutes. Now add the spinach and let simmer for 2-3 minutes
Season to taste with lime juice and salt, add sugar if you find the tomatoes are too bitter
Serve with your choice of accompaniment, like rice or paratha
