Easy, healthy Indian-inspired curry recipe with chickpeas! This plant-based, oil-free version of saag chana with chickpeas, spinach, spices and cashew cream is rich and creamy. Perfect served with basmati rice and tastes like takeout.
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🧄 Ingredient notes
To make this vegan saag chana curry, you'll need the following ingredients:
- frozen spinach (can be substituted for fresh spinach or frozen methi/fenugreek leaves, kale, swiss chard or other greens)
- chickpeas (canned or homemade chickpeas)
- onion
- fresh garlic
- fresh ginger
- diced tomato (fresh or canned)
- unsweetened almond milk (or other unsweetened plant-based milk)
- prepared cashew cream (Cashew cream is the very best option for this recipe, based on my testing. To substitute, you can also use canned coconut milk, silken tofu sour cream or unsweetened, plain dairy-free yogurt.)
These are the spices you'll need to have on hand to make this chickpea spinach curry:
- whole cumin seeds
- garam masala
- ground turmeric
- cayenne pepper
- sea salt
- black pepper
🔪 Instructions
This delicious chickpea spinach curry can be made in the Instant Pot or on the stovetop. I've included detailed instructions for both in my recipe card below.
👨👩👦👦 Serving suggestions
Serve this vegan chickpea curry dish with basmati rice. For a super easy way to inject more flavor to your basmati rice, try making jeera rice, which is infused with cumin seeds while cooking.
This dish would also be delicious with roasted curried cauliflower, Indian flatbread, like naan or roti, cucumber tomato salad, or red lentil dal.
The options are many!
☕️ Tea pairing
This vegan chickpea spinach curry would be delicious served with a hot or iced chai tea latte, using soy or oat milk. If you've never had chai, you may be wondering: What does chai taste like? It's spicy, warming, sweet and refreshing!
❓ FAQ
Saag means a mix of greens, but in America, those greens are usually spinach, perhaps mixed with methi (fenugreek) or other types of greens. Chana means chickpeas.
Indian food, specifically curries, can be made without oil by using water or vegetable stock to sauté the ingredients. For the spices, carefully dry roast them in a dry pan to bring out the flavor without oil.
Cashew cream is the richest, thickest option for substitution of heavy cream in curries, in my opinion. Other options are: canned coconut milk (the dish will take on a sweet, coconut flavor), silken tofu sour cream (this is a good low-fat option), unsweetened, plain dairy-free yogurt. You can also use unsweetened plant-based milk but it will be a thinner consistency.
🔄 Variations
Instead of chickpeas, try adding baked cubes of tofu to this creamy spinach curry. This is a vegan, plant-based version of saag paneer and we love it!
Instead of just spinach, try combining your favorite chopped greens to make this vegan curry. Some options to try are:
- methi / fenugreek leaves (you can find these at Indian grocery stores in the frozen section or produce area)
- kale
- swiss chard
- mustard greens
- collard greens
💭 Tips
Storing in Refrigerator
Store vegan saag chana in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Storing in Freezer
This dish freezes well. Freeze in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in refrigerator overnight. Or, heat in microwave.
🗺 Cultural influences
This recipe is inspired by North Indian cuisine.
Growing up in Houston, Texas, my family loved eating Indian food. We had a favorite restaurant we would frequent throughout my life, until it closed. It was called Taj Mahal on I-45 South near 610 in Houston.
Their saag paneer was too die for and is forever engraved on my tongue as the way saag should taste. All other saag (spinach) dishes are judged by that familiar flavor.
Another favorite from Taj Mahal was vegetable korma. Not too spicy, this dish was full of potato, cauliflower, carrot and green beans, all swimming in a rich creamy curry.
💜 More recipes you'll love
If you love this vegan saag chana recipe, check out my other Indian-inspired plant-based recipes!
Love this recipe? Please rate it 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below in the recipe card. And, if you make it, please tag me on Instagram or Facebook in your posted photos! I would love to see your creations. 😄
📖 Recipe
Vegan Saag Chana - Instant Pot Chickpea Spinach Curry
Equipment
- Instant Pot or pressure cooker
- Immersion blender or blender/food processor, optional
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds whole
- 1 onion diced (about 270g)
- 2 roma tomatoes diced (about 240g)
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger minced
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper omit or use less for a mild curry
- 1 cup almond milk unsweetened, plain
- 20 ounces frozen chopped spinach thawed
- 15 ounces canned chickpeas drained and rinsed (or about 1 ½ cups of homemade chickpeas)
- ¾ cup vegan sour cream cashew cream is best option, see notes for alternatives
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions:
- In a stockpot or pan over medium heat, dry roast cumin seeds for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant, stirring frequently so they do not burn.
- Add onions and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric and cayenne and cook for 5 minutes.
- Add almond milk and stir to deglaze pan.
- Stir in spinach and simmer over medium-low heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. At this point, you can pureé some or all of your curry in a blender or using an immersion blender, so that the spinach is in smaller pieces. This is optional, but highly recommended and up to your personal tastes. I usually blend/puree it just a bit with an immersion blender, but leave some texture. I do not blend it completely into a smooth sauce.
- After blending (if you chose to do so), add cashew cream, chickpeas, salt and pepper and continue to simmer/heat for 5 minutes.
- Serve over cooked basmati rice.
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Turn on "Saute" function on Instant Pot. Add cumin seeds and dry roast 1-2 minutes, until fragrant, stirring frequently, so they do not burn.
- Add onions and cook for 3 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add tomatoes, garlic, ginger, garam masala, turmeric and cayenne and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add almond milk and stir to deglaze pan. Add spinach and stir together.
- Turn off saute function by pressing "Cancel". Lock lid in place, with vent closed (set to "Sealing). Cook on Manual Pressure for 5 minutes.
- Quick release pressure by carefully turning vent with a wooden spoon to "Venting". The steam is very hot, so be careful not to touch it with your hands.
- At this point, you can pureé some or all of your curry in a blender or using an immersion blender, so that the spinach is in smaller pieces. This is optional, but highly recommended and up to your personal tastes. I usually blend/puree it just a bit (but NOT completely smooth) with an immersion blender. I like it with still a bit of texture.
- After blending (if you chose to do so), add cashew cream, chickpeas, salt and pepper and continue to simmer/heat for 5 minutes.
- Serve over cooked basmati rice.
Video
Notes
- Cashew Cream: cashew cream is the best tasting option to add thick creaminess to this recipe. If you can, use it. If you don't have prepared cashew cream, then you can use: 1 can full-fat coconut milk (omit almond milk if using this option), vegan sour cream, plain vegan yogurt or silken tofu that has been blended until smooth.
- Frozen chopped spinach: sub with 2 pounds (32 ounces) fresh chopped spinach. You'll need to crank the heat up, add in little bits at a time, stir to cook it down and add more. Keep doing this until all the spinach is in the pot cooking away. You can also sub with a combination of methi/fenugreek leaves, kale, swiss chard, mustard greens or any cooking greens you like.
- Almond Milk: sub with other plain, unsweetened plant-based milk
- Chickpeas: sub with baked or air fryer tofu cubes for vegan saag paneer
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