Whenever I go out for Indian food, I love a good shahi paneer dish and was recently invited over to a friend's house who immigrated from India a few years ago. They served me a variation of this chana shahi and I fell in LOVE! I love chickpeas and I love the creaminess from the blended cashews in this recipe.
How to Get the Most Flavor
The key to the flavor of this dish is all of the spices and cooking them on a pan to let the flavors open up. Frying the spices on a pan before adding in any other ingredients gives this dish a fresher, brighter taste and aroma. The heat draws out the flavors in the spices and makes this dish a powerhouse of spice and flavor with a lot of depth!
Chana Shahi Substitutions
This dish calls for a lot of spices that you might not find in your typical pantry. However, I will say I invested in getting the more uncommon spices from my local Indian grocery store and have found myself more inclined to cook Indian food because of it.
If you don't have sambal oelek you can substitute for sriracha or harissa instead. The sambal oelek is here just to give the dish some kick. If you don't have asofoetada you can sub for 2 teaspoon garlic powder. Asofoetada is something you can order on Amazon if you'd like, but since there's very little used in each dish I make (though it's powerful) you could sub for garlic powder.
You can also add whatever veggies you'd like to the dish. I love having potatoes and chickpeas in this dish and throw in whatever veggies I have on hand. It can range from carrots to bell peppers to green beans and even broccoli!
Whatever you add to this dish, make sure to make some rice and naan to serve it with!
Chana Shahi
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 inch fresh ginger grated (1 tbsp)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 tablespoon garam masala
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ½ teaspoon asofoetada
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek
- 1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup of cashews soaked in hot water for 30 minutes
- 1 cup coconut milk
- ⅔ cup water
- 2-2 ½ teaspoon salt
Veggies & Protein
- 2 14 oz cans chickpeas
- 1 ½ cups fresh green beans chopped
- 1-2 medium to large Yukon gold potatoes diced/small cubes
- 1 cup chopped carrots diced
- 1 cup frozen or fresh peas
- Basmati rice and/or naan to serve
Instructions
- Soak your cashews in hot water for 30 minutes
- Prep your rice as instructed
- Boil a pot of water with a pinch of salt and cut your vegetables.
- Add the cubed potatoes and carrots to the boiling water and boil for 8 minutes. Then add your peas and green beans and boil for another 5 minutes until everything is tender and cooked. Drain the vegetables from the water then set aside.
- Add your avocado oil to a pan over medium heat with cumin, ginger, chili powder, and bay leaves. Stir for 30 seconds then reduce the heat to low
- Add in the rest of the spices and sambal oelek. Cook for another 1 minute then remove the pan from the heat.
- Add your soaked cashews (without the water), coconut milk, crushed tomatoes, and ⅔ cup of water to a blender and blend until smooth. At least 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sauce to the spice mixture and mix together over medium heat for 3-5 minutes until the flavors combine. Add your cooked veggies and 2 cans of rinsed and drained chickpeas to the pan and incorporate for 2 minutes.
- Serve over rice or with naan and enjoy!
Notes
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Don't forget to rate and review below! And if you're looking for a naan recipe, here's my garlic naan recipe!
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