Palak or Spinach Sev are crunchy savory noodles with a delightful bright green hue to complement the tantalizing spices. A twist to the regular chickpea sev, these gluten-free garlicky noodles have a mildly spicy flavor from green chilies. Quick to make, these utterly delicious noodles are a great snack or party starter!
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What is Sev
Sev or Shev, is a classic Indian snack made in a variety of mouth-watering flavors like spinach, black pepper, garlic, tomato, namkeen just to name a few. And this homemade Spinach Sev is my favorite! I love to serve it with the rest of my Diwali faral. The best part of this addictive finger food is that its bold green color brightens up my Diwali platter of traditional sweets and savories!
Sharing Mom Recipe
This summer when my parents were visiting us, I brought them to our local farmers market that sells seasonal farm-fresh produce. Needless to say, we couldn’t help but pick almost everything that was available and ended up buying bags of baby spinach among other goodies. Back home, everyone joined a debate over tea on how to best use the spinach. Recipes were soon flying across the table and my son demanded something crispy to munch on as he studied for his tests. And a doting grandma that she is, my mother decided to whip up a batch of instant Spinach Sev for him.
The unique combination of earthy spinach flavor and freshly ground spices makes this Spinach Sev a hands-down winner, and it is now my go-to sev recipe for Diwali faral. While spinach sev is not uncommon, I feel my mother's signature recipe is the best as the delectable flavors are truly enhanced by the love with which she makes it.
As I take this opportunity to wish you all a VERY HAPPY AND AUSPICIOUS DIWALI, I feel happy to share with you my mother's trademark thick Spinach Sev recipe.
Tips for perfect Spinach Sev
- Make as fine a paste of spinach, garlic, chilies, and carom seeds as possible, so they do not get stuck into the sev disc while pumping out.
- If using regular spinach, discard the stems as they can get stuck in the sev press.
- Depending on the thickness of the puree, you may need more or less flour. Start with 1 cup and add more as needed. The dough will be soft and sticky.
- Keep oil at medium-high when adding the sev.
- Allow the sev to cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side before turning it over.
- Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes on the other side on low heat while making sure the color stays green.
- Sev will continue to crisp up as it cools down after it has been taken out of the hot oil.
You will need the Sev press for making this dish. Sev press is the same as the Chakli press, you just have to insert a different disc or mold for making the shev. I use the disc with medium-thick holes for making this Spinach sev. I like the Anjali chakli press that I purchased in India. It is available on Amazon in the US. Here is a brass chakli press that looks good too.
Step-by-step recipe to make Spinach Shev
Step 1: Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Blanch spinach for 1 to 2 minutes or until they start to wilt. Transfer the spinach into an ice bath so it stops cooking. Drain the water completely and squeeze the spinach leaves by tightly pressing them with your hands to discard the remaining water. Blanching allows the spinach to be cooked to a perfect tenderness while retaining the bright green color (photos 1 - 2).
Step 2: Add garlic, green chilies, and carom seeds to the blender jar and blend together. Then add the blanched spinach to make a smooth puree (photos 3 - 4).
Step 3: Transfer the puree to a mixing bowl. Add besan/chickpea flour, salt, and ½ tablespoon of oil to the puree, mix well and knead to form a soft dough. Note: Depending on the thickness of the puree, you may need more flour. The dough will be soft and sticky. Add the remaining oil that will help take out any dough stuck to the bowl or on your hand. Shape the dough into a ball (photos 5 - 8).
Step 4: Keep a frying pan or kadhai on medium heat and heat oil for frying. Take the sev press and insert the sev disc with medium-thick holes. Next, fill up the tube of the sev press with some of the prepared dough keeping a 1-inch gap at the top. Tightly secure the top lid/handle on the tube (photos 9 - 10).
Step 5: Test the oil for optimum temperature by adding a small piece of dough to the oil, which should rise up gradually in 5 to 10 seconds. If it rises up too fast, lower the heat and if it does not rise up in 10 seconds allow the oil to heat up further.
Carefully, start pumping out the sev in a circular motion directly in the hot oil. I usually do 1 round spiral shape, then stop pumping the press and break the dough by hand so I get one palm-sized circular nest of sev in the oil.
Fry the sev for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Then slowly turn the sev over and continue to fry for another 2 minutes on low heat. Make sure the oil is not overheated and the sev does not burn. Carefully take it out on a paper towel-lined tray. The sev will continue to crisp up as it cools down (photos 11 - 14).
Increase the heat for the frying pan back to medium-high and continue pressing another sev spiral and frying. Repeat the process of filling the press, pumping sev, and frying for the remaining dough.
Serving
Serve spinach sev with a hot cup of chai or coffee for a yummy afternoon snack. During Diwali, I love to add it to the festive platter of Diwali treats, perfect as an appetizer for your guests to munch on as they gather around.
How to Store
This appetizing sev is easy to make and can be made ahead of time. It has a long shelf life if stored well in an airtight container. It can stay fresh for up to 3 to 4 weeks if your family doesn’t devour it before, that is!
More Diwali Recipes
Did you enjoy this scrumptious snack? Here are my other favorite Diwali Snacks and Savories that you don't want to miss:
- Ladoo - a recipe using Rava, fresh coconut and chasni
- Chakli - recipe with details on how to make Chakli flour in an instant
- Shakarpara - bite-sized sugar cookies with basic pantry ingredients
- Karanji - rose-flavored Gujiya recipe
- Sweet Puri - fried flatbreads with coconut and jaggery filling
- Besan Laddu - traditional Maharashtrian laddu with chickpea flour
And if you are interested in knowing how my family celebrates Diwali in the US, read all about it here!!
Do you love Indian food? Here are some of my go-to recipes:
- Eggplant Curry - Quick Instant Pot recipe with authentic flavors
- Chicken Kofta Curry - succulent chicken meatballs in a finger-licking yummy curry
- Red Fish Curry - a weeknight favorite curry served with steamed rice
- Stuffed Bhindi Fry - stir-fried okra with a spicy filling
- Lentils with Dill - rich and creamy moong daal
Recipe
Garlicky Spinach Sev
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 box 5 to 6 ounces of baby spinach
- 8 garlic cloves
- 2 to 4 green chillies
- 1 teaspoon carom seeds
- 1½ cups besan fine gram flour
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- Oil for frying
Instructions
- Bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a medium pot. Blanch spinach for 1 to 2 minutes or until they start to wilt. Transfer the spinach into an ice bath so it stops cooking. Blanching allows the spinach to be cooked to a perfect tenderness while retaining the bring green color.
- Drain the water completely and squeeze the spinach leaves by tightly pressing them with your hands to discard the remaining water.
- Add garlic, green chilies, and carom seeds to the blender jar and blend together. Then add the blanched spinach to make a smooth puree.
- Transfer the puree to a mixing bowl. Add besan/chickpea flour salt and ½ tablespoon of oil to the puree, mix well and knead to form a soft dough. Note: Depending on the thickness of the puree, you may need more flour. The dough will be soft and sticky. Add the remaining oil that will help take out any dough stuck to the bowl or on your hand and shape the dough into a ball.
- Keep a frying pan or kadhai on medium heat and heat oil for frying.
- Take the sev press and insert the sev disc with medium-thick holes. Next, fill up the tube of the sev press with some of the prepared dough keeping a 1-inch gap at the top. Tightly secure the top lid/handle on the tube.
- Test the oil for optimum temperature by adding a small piece of dough to the oil, which should rise up gradually in 5 to 10 seconds. If it rises up too fast, lower the heat and if it does not rise up in 10 seconds allow the oil to heat up further.
- Carefully, start pumping out the sev in a circular motion directly in the hot oil. I usually do 1 round spiral shape, then stop pumping the press and break the dough by hand so I get one palm-sized circular nest of sev in the oil.
- Fry the sev for 2 to 3 minutes on medium-high heat. Then slowly turn the sev over and continue to fry for another 2 minutes on low heat. Make sure the oil is not overheated and sev does not burn. Carefully take it out on a paper towel-lined tray. The sev will continue to crisp up as it cools down.Increase the heat for the frying pan back to medium-high and continue pressing another sev spiral and frying. Repeat the process of filling the press, pumping sev, and frying for the remaining dough.
Air Fryer Sev
- To air-fry sev, line the air fryer basket with parchment paper and lightly spray it with oil. Then Make a single layer of sev spiral directly inside the basket.
- Air fry at 330 F for 5 minutes. Open the basket. Spray a little more oil and cook for an additional 4 to 6 minutes checking frequently the last few minutes making sure the sev is not browning. Carefully take the sev out, it will continue to crisp up as it cools down.
Video
Notes
- Make as fine a paste of spinach, garlic, chilies, and carom seeds as possible, so they do not get stuck into the sev disc while pumping out. If using regular spinach, discard the stems as they can get stuck in the sev press.
- Depending on the thickness of the puree, you may need more or less flour. Start with 1 cup and add more as needed. The dough will be soft and sticky.
- Keep oil at medium high when adding the sev. Allow the sev cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side before turning it over. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes on the other side on low heat while making sure the color stays green. Sev will continue to crisp up as it cools down after it has been taken out of the hot oil.
Nutrition
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Rama says
Hi! Looks great. I do not have a press and will not be able to get one in time. Do you think I could roll out the dough into small balls and fry it up? Thanks!
Archana says
Sure you can try. It will probably take longer time
Anonymous says
Today I made this exact recipe. It turned out really good.