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Healthy and nutritious Spinach Puda is prepared with spinach leaves in a chickpea flour batter and Indian spices. It’s the perfect weekend brunch!
Spinach Puda is perfect for a weekend brunch. It goes perfectly with a cup of hot masala chai. The best part is it’s super easy to make. If spinach isn’t your cup of tea, you can try my Zucchini Carrot Besan Puda Cheela.
What is Spinach Puda?
Spinach Puda is also known as Spinach Pudla, Spinach Cheela, Palak Cheela is essentially spinach leaves added to a chickpea flour (besan) batter along with Indian spices. This dish is typically eaten for breakfast or brunch. It’s healthy, nutritious, vegan, and gluten-free.
Tips on making Spinach Puda:
- Use fresh spinach leaves.
- Finely chop the spinach leaves. Do not add large pieces of spinach leaves.
- Add enough water to ensure the batter is flowy, and not thick and tough.
- Add lots of ginger, you can’t have enough. The flavor is in the ginger.
- Also, you need to add Indian green chilies to this dish. If you don’t have Indian green chilies, use serrano peppers.
Spinach Puda is:
Delicious
Nutritious
Gingery
Quick & Easy
Perfect for Brunch
Healthy
Vegan
Gluten-Free
How to make Spinach Puda recipe step by step?
Prep
1. Chop lots of ginger, some green chilies, and finely chop fresh spinach.
2. In a large bowl, add besan (chickpea flour).
3. To the besan, add spinach, ginger, and green chilies.
4. Add all the spices – coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, carom seeds (ajwain), and salt. Mix.
5. Add water (1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp). Start with 1 3/4 cups and add a little more if needed. The batter should be slightly runny.
6. This is what you should have.
Cook
1. Heat up a castiron skillet over low-medium heat. Let it heat up for about 5 minutes. Once hot, spray avocado oil.
2. Using a 1/3 cup measurement, pour the batter on your castiron skillet. Gently spread out the batter.
3. Once bubbles form on top about 45 seconds later, drizzle a 1/4 tsp of oil over the top. You don’t need more than a 1/4 tsp of oil.
4. Flip.
5. This is what you should have. Cook on the other side for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with cilantro chutney and Ching’s red chili sauce.
Pin & Enjoy!
More Indian Brunch Recipes!
- Zucchini Carrot Besan Puda Cheela
- Sweet Potato Chaat
- Rava Upma | Upma Recipe
- Quinoa Bhel Salad
- Aloo Tikki Chaat
- Rava Dhokla
Spinach Puda
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups besan, chickpea flour
- 4 cups fresh spinach, finely chopped
- 2 inch piece ginger, chopped
- 2-3 green chilies finely chopped
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander powder
- 3/4 tsp cumin powder
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/3 tsp red chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp carom seeds ajwain
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 cups water, add 2 cups initially, add 1/2 cup later
- avocado oil spray, before cooking each puda
- 1 tbsp avocado oil divided - 1/4 tsp oil per puda
Instructions
Prep
- Chop lots of ginger, some green chilies, and finely chop fresh spinach.
- In a large bowl, add besan (chickpea flour).
- To the besan, add spinach, ginger, and green chilies.
- Add all the spices - coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chili powder, carom seeds (ajwain), and salt. Mix.
- Add water (1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp). Start with 1 3/4 cups and add a little more if needed. The batter should be slightly runny.
- This is what you should have.
Cook
- Heat up a castiron skillet over low-medium heat. Let it heat up for about 5 minutes. Once hot, spray avocado oil.
- Using a 1/3 cup measurement, pour the batter on your castiron skillet. Gently spread out the batter.
- Once bubbles form on top about 45 seconds later, drizzle a 1/4 tsp of oil over the top. You don't need more than a 1/4 tsp of oil.
- Flip.
- This is what you should have. Cook on the other side for about 2 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with cilantro chutney and Ching's red chili sauce.
Is the oil necessary for the recipe to come out well? Would love to make it but don’t want a disaster by leaving out a necessary ingredient.
HI Trish, THe oil is definitely necessary to spray the pan and cook the puda else how will it cook on a pan? You’re using an avocado oil spray (or whatever works). To add oil on top – I guess you can skip this, it’s not necessary, but it helps in tasting good. I didn’t use a lot of oil for this recipe. Note – 1 tbsp of oil (1/4 tsp per puda) – this makes about 12 pudas total. Hope that helps and makes sense. 🙂 Let me know how it goes.
Loved this! Excellent recipe.