Friday, February 14, 2025
30 C
Brunei Town
More

    Chickpeas and spinach share the spotlight in this one-pot chana saag

    Ellie Krieger

    THE WASHINGTON POST – The traditional Mediterranean diet has become a default setting for healthful eating for good reason. It offers healthfulness and pleasure in spades, and it has been thoroughly researched – with many studies pointing to its benefits.

    But all the attention it gets might inadvertently leave the impression that other cultural foodways don’t measure up health-wise, and that’s plainly untrue. There are powerful lessons to glean from a multitude of traditional diets worldwide, ways of eating which have developed over generations to optimise people’s well-being. Widening our perspective beyond the Mediterranean opens us up to boundless healthful culinary opportunities.

    With that in mind, all this month and periodically throughout the year I will dedicate this column to exploring nourishing recipes from world cuisines which might not typically make the health headlines, shining a light on cookbook authors who represent those cuisines.

    Of course there is no one recipe that could reflect the entirety of any culture’s cuisine, and every country comprises micro cultures which each have unique food traditions. The idea isn’t to distill that wealth of variety into a single dish but rather to offer a taste of healthful foods from around the world to inspire you to explore further.

    First up, this mouthwatering, plant-powered curry from Meera Sodha’s book Fresh India, a nutri-tious, weeknight-friendly dinner that dispels any notion you may have of Indian food being heavy or complicated, and highlights the extraordinary tradition of India’s vegetarian cuisine.

    Chana Saag (spinach, tomato and chickpea curry). PHOTO: THE WASHINGTON POST

    Sodha is from Gujarat, a small state on the country’s western coast where, she explains in her book’s introduction, “over thousands of years, a rich and resourceful vegetable-first way of cooking has evolved”.

    Her take on chana saag, a dish she said is almost as popular in England, where she lives now, as it is in India, is especially convenient and fresh-tasting. It brims with healthful flavour from aromatic spices, is packed with protein-rich chickpeas, savoury tomatoes and piles of just-wilted fresh spinach. This one-pot stew comes together in under an hour and tastes even better the next day.

    I couldn’t agree more with what Sodha expressed to me via e-mail: “If readers are looking to eat a more plant-based diet to put vegetables at the centre of their meals and for a myriad of ways to cook them simply and deliciously, I think India is a great place to look.”

    I couldn’t agree more. And this dish, I’ll add, is a great place to start.

    CHANA SAAG (SPINACH, TOMATO AND CHICKPEA CURRY)

    50 minutes; seven servings (makes about seven cups)

    This take on chana saag, from author Meera Sodha’s cookbook Fresh India, is a mouthwatering example of the extraordinary tradition of India’s vegetarian cuisine.

    Especially convenient and fresh-tasting, it brims with healthful flavour from aromatic spices and is packed with protein-rich chickpeas, savoury tomatoes and piles of just-wilted spinach. It comes together in one pot – and it tastes even better warmed up the next day.

    INGREDIENTS

    – Three tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or grapeseed
    – Half teaspoon black mustard seeds
    – One teaspoon cumin seeds
    – Two large yellow onions (one-and-a-half pounds total), diced
    – Five medium cloves garlic, minced or finely grated
    – One teaspoon grated fresh ginger
    – One (14-ounce) can plum tomatoes, with their juices
    – Three-quarter cup water
    – Two (15-ounce) cans no-salt-added chickpeas, drained and rinsed
    – One-and-a-half teaspoons ground coriander
    – One teaspoon ground Kashmiri chilli (may substitute three-quarter teaspoon smoked paprika and a quarter teaspoon cayenne pepper)
    – One teaspoon fine salt
    – Half teaspoon ground turmeric
    – One pound baby spinach
    – Plain whole-milk or reduced-fat yoghurt, for serving (optional)

    DIRECTIONS

    In a very large, wide, lidded pot over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and cook, stirring, until they begin to pop, about 30 seconds.

    Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for two minutes more. Add the tomatoes and their juices, crushing each tomato by hand as you add it to the pot, then stir in the water.

    Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, coriander, ground chilli, salt and turmeric to incorporate.

    Working in batches, if needed, add the spinach, letting it wilt so you can stir it into the mixture before adding more spinach. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the spinach is soft and tender, about five minutes.

    Remove from the heat, ladle into bowls and serve, topped with a dollop of yoghurt, if desired.

    spot_img

    Related News

    spot_img