Chane Ka Saag (Chana Saag)

When winter arrives in India, the markets are filled with fresh seasonal greens. One of the lesser-known winter specialties from North India is Chane Ka Saag, made with the tender greens of the chickpea plant. These delicate greens have small, feathery leaves and are cooked into a simple, wholesome saag. This traditional Punjabi recipe is naturally vegan.

About Chane Ka Saag

In Hindi and Punjabi, saag simply means leafy greens. Chane ka Saag refers to the tender greens of the chickpea plant, not the chickpeas themselves.

The young chickpea leaves have a delicate, feathery texture and are available only during the winter season. Although the names can sometimes be confusing, this traditional dish is made with fresh chickpea greens and not with cooked chickpeas.

It should not be confused with Chana Palak, a North Indian curry made with spinach, white chickpeas and a spiced onion-tomato masala.

In this Chana ka Saag recipe, the cleaned and chopped chickpea greens are pressure cooked with yellow moong dal, tomatoes, ginger, garlic, green chilies, asafoetida, salt and water until the lentils are soft.

Once cooled slightly, the mixture is blended to a smooth puree using a blender, mixer-grinder or an immersion blender.

The puree is then simmered with a simple tempering of mustard oil, cumin seeds, dried red chilies, asafoetida and sautéed onions. This final tempering enhances the flavor of the Chana ka Saag.

Preparing any leafy greens takes a little time as they need to be cleaned, rinsed and chopped well. I usually clean the greens a day ahead, store them in an airtight container or a cotton bag in the refrigerator, and cook them the next day. It makes the preparation much easier.

The Chana ka Saag has a mildly tangy (khatta) taste and is traditionally served with Makki ki Roti, Bajre ki Roti or Jowar Roti. A dollop of homemade White Butter or Ghee on top makes it even more comforting. You can also enjoy it with everyday roti or chapati.

If you enjoy cooking with winter greens or winter vegetables, do try my recipes for Sarson ka Saag, Palak Saag, Shalgam ki Sabji, Palak Paneer and Bathua Paratha.

How to make Chana Ka Saag (Stepwise)

Clean & Prepare Chickpea Leaves

1. Firstly, pluck the tender stems with the leaves from the saag. Do not use the hard or dense stems. Collect the tender small stems with the small leaves in pan or large bowl.

You will need 150 grams cleaned chana saag or 5 to 5½ cups chane ka saag.

2. Now, add water in the pan or bowl and let the chane ka saag be immersed for 2 to 3 minutes.

Doing this helps to get rid of the mud or dust on the leaves as these settle down in the water.

3. Drain all the water.

4. Again pour water in the bowl or pan.

5. Gently swirl the leaves with your hands and then drain the water. Repeat this method 2 to 3 times, so that the leaves are cleaned properly.

6. Lastly, drain all the water well from the leaves.

7. Roughly chop the leaves.

Pressure Cook

8. In a 3-liter stovetop pressure cooker, add the chopped chickpea leaves.

9. Add 2 tablespoons rinsed moong dal. Instead of moong dal, you can add maize flour, gram flour or pearl millet flour.

10. Add 1 medium quartered tomato, 1 teaspoon chopped ginger, 1 teaspoon chopped garlic and 1 green chili (about 1 teaspoon, chopped).

11. Add 1 pinch asafoetida (hing) and salt as required.

12. Add ½ cup water.

13. Pressure cook on medium heat for 8 to 9 minutes or 4 to 5 whistles. Since I have used moong dal, I have pressure cooked for more time.

If using any of the flours instead of moong dal, then you can pressure cook for about 5 to 6 minutes.

14. When the pressure settles down naturally, open the lid. Keep it open so that the saag mixture becomes warm or cools down.

15. When the saag mixture has become warm or cooled, take it in a mixer-grinder jar or blender. You can also blend directly in the cooker with a hand held electric blender.

16. Blend to a smooth consistency. Set aside.

Temper Chane Ka Saag

17. Heat 2 tablespoons mustard oil in a pan or kadai. You can also use ghee instead of mustard oil.

18. Add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds. Keep the heat to a low.

19. Let the cumin seeds crackle.

20. Then, add 1 dried red chili (broken and seeds removed) and 1 pinch asafoetida (hing). Stir till the red chilies change color.

21. Then, add ⅓ cup finely chopped onions.

22. Begin to sauté onions on low to medium heat.

23. Sauté onions till light brown or golden.

23. Add the saag puree.

24. Mix very well and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or till it becomes hot.

25. While simmering, stir often as the chana saag splutters. Later, switch off the heat.

26. Serve Chana ka Saag with makki ki roti, bajre ki roti, chapati or phulka.

Dassana’s Recipe Tips

1. Take the tender stems from the chickpea leaves, and not the dense or hard stems.
2. Keeping the chana leaves immersed in water for some minutes, then rinsing and draining, and repeating this process 2 to 3 times is important as this helps to get rid of the mud or dust on the leaves and cleans them completely.
3. Moong dal is used in this Chana Saag recipe as a thickener. Instead of moong dal, you can even use gram flour, maize flour, sorghum flour or pearl millet flour.
4. The pressure-cooking time will be more if you add moong dal. But if you add any of the other above-mentioned flour alternatives, then the cooking time will reduce.
5. The pressure cooked chana saag mixture can be blended in a mixer-grinder, blender or with a hand-held electric blender.
6. You can cook this dish in ghee (clarified butter), instead of mustard oil.

Chana Saag recipe from the archives was first published on January 2018.