Name: Green Chickpeas with Spinach (Palak Hara Chana)
Yield: Makes 4 cups
Cuisine: India
Ingredients: 2 teaspoons Toasted Cumin-Coriander Blend; 8 ounces fresh spinach leaves, well rinsed and finely chopped; or 1 package (8 to 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed (no need to drain); 1 teaspoon tamarind paste or concentrate, or the Juice of 1 medium-size lime; 1½ teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt; 2 tablespoons crumbled (or chopped) jaggery or firmly packed dark brown sugar; 1 teaspoon ground Deggi chiles (see box); or ½ teaspoon cayenne (ground red pepper) mixed with ½ teaspoon sweet paprika; ½ teaspoon ground turmeric; 1 cup finely chopped red onion; ½ teaspoon bishop’s weed (see Tips); 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 teaspoon black or yellow mustard seeds; 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 cup dried green chickpeas (see Tips); ¼ teaspoon baking soda

Preparation info

Makes
4 cups

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

660 Curries

By Raghavan Iyer

Published 2008

About

If you ever have a chance to sample fresh green chickpeas, I know you will fall in love with their nutty-sweet taste and juicy crunch, as I did during a recent trip to Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in northern India. It is common there to see men and women holding bunches of the greens that house the chickpeas, snacking on the fresh legumes as they go about their business. Simply steamed and tossed with a few spices, green chickpeas are delicious. Unfortunately the chances of finding them her