Methi chaman is an exquisite Kashmiri dish of blended fenugreek greens (methi) and spinach sauteed with onions and tomatoes. The recipe typically includes paneer and cream but this vegan version has healthier substitutes, like tofu and cashew cream, for a dish brimming with flavor.
There are so many tasty north Indian sides featuring blended greens! You are likely familiar with tofu palak paneer, but be sure to also check out these recipes for sarson ka saag, saag aloo and garlicky Swiss chard.
Fenugreek greens are prized in Indian cuisine not just for their healthful properties, of which there are many, but also for their pleasantly bitter flavor that enhances such delicious dishes as methi dal and methi paratha. Methi is a cool-weather green and it grows abundantly in north India's winters, so it's also a seasonal green to eat this time of year in dishes like methi chaman.
Methi (fenugreek) chaman (paneer) will likely bring palak paneer to your mind and there are many similarities. But the addition of the fenugreek greens makes a significant difference to the flavor, and it makes the dish even healthier.
If you've never had fenugreek greens before but are familiar with Indian food, it might help to know that these fresh greens are simply the fresh version of kasoori methi - dried fenugreek leaves rich with aromatic compounds that make dishes like vegan butter chicken so appealing.
Methi chaman is the perfect dish for anyone who loves Indian food but doesn't love a lot of spice. Although there are spices in this recipe, the greens and the cashew cream mellow them down quite a bit and the sauce is mild albeit vividly flavorful.
This is also an exceedingly healthy dish: it has scads of nutrients, including vitamin A, calcium and iron. There are just 11 net carbs and 16 grams of protein in each serving so it's suited both to a low-carb diet as well as a high-protein diet. The recipe is gluten-free and if you are nut-free I have suggestions for you in the FAQs below.
There are a couple of steps to this methi chaman recipe, but they are not difficult. All you have to do is blanch the methi leaves and spinach, blend them, and then sauté them with spices until absolutely delicious. The aroma that fills the house as you cook is, by itself, reason enough for making this dish. Then all you need to serve dinner is an Indian flatbread, like naan, paratha or roti.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
- Vegetables: onions, tomatoes, spinach and fenugreek greens (methi). See FAQs below for where to buy methi, substitutions, etc.
- Herbs: garlic and ginger garlic paste. You will need both for the best flavor.
- Spices: mustard seeds, cumin seeds, asafetida (optional), green cardamom pods, cloves, cinnamon sticks, cayenne or paprika or any red chili powder, turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and garam masala.
- Raw cashews. The cashews, blended to a cream, give the sauce richness and also mellow down the spices.
How to make methi chaman
There are three simple steps here: brown the tofu, blanch and puree the greens, and finally put it all together, which is the easiest and most rewarding part. Browning the tofu before simmering it in the sauce gives the tofu the perfect texture: slightly chewy on the outside and creamy and flavorful on the inside. I've included photos of every step below, so be sure to follow along to see how the recipe should look like at different stages in the cooking process.
1. Brown the tofu
Heat avocado oil or any neutral oil in a wide skillet or Dutch oven. Add the tofu cubes and brown them on all sides.
Remove the browned tofu cubes to a plate or bowl and set aside. Leave any oil that remains in the pan behind. We'll use that to fry the onions later. If any bits of tofu remain stuck to the pan, that's fine -- they will loosen up once we begin making the sauce and they'll add more flavor.
2. Blanch and puree greens
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the spinach and methi greens and stir them in.
The leaves should wilt quickly. Let them remain in the pot for three more minutes.
Strain the leafy greens in a colander.
Place the leafy greens in a blender and add ¼ cup water. Blend into a very smooth paste. Set aside.
3. Make methi chaman
In the pan used to fry the tofu, over high heat, add the mustard seeds, asafetida, cinnamon stick, cloves and green cardamom pods. After the mustard sputters and pops, add the onions along with a pinch of salt. (If there was no oil left in the pan after frying the tofu, add a teaspoon before adding the mustard seeds).
Sauté the onions 3-5 minutes over medium heat until just beginning to brown. Stir in and sauté the garlic until you can smell the aroma, about 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric to the pan. Mix everything and cook until the tomatoes are very soft and pulpy.
Stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté another 30 seconds.
Add the pureed greens to the onions and tomatoes with 2 cups water.
Add sugar and garam masala to the greens. Mix well and let the greens simmer, without covering the pot, for 10 minutes or until the greens don't taste raw anymore. Stir frequently and add some water if the greens start sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Stir in the browned tofu cubes and the cashew cream.
Mix well, return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Check for salt and turn off heat. Serve the methi chaman hot.
Serve
Methi chaman is delicious with Indian flatbreads. Scoop it up with vegan naan, roti or paratha (you can find more ideas for Indian breads here, including a soft, fluffy sourdough naan and whole wheat naan).
You can also serve this as a vegetable side with dal and basmati rice. Make the dal a simple one, like this Indian yellow dal or dalitoy, to best showcase the flavorful methi chaman.
Time-saving tip
Use an air fryer to brown the tofu. Don't season the tofu but follow instructions in my air fryer tofu recipe for time and temperature.
Recipe FAQs
Methi greens or fenugreek greens can be found at Indian and Asian grocery stores. Look for bright green leaves with no yellowing or browning. Methi can be notoriously gritty because the leaves are sold with roots and all. Wash it in a few changes of water to get all the dirt out.
Trim out all of the tough stems and the roots. You can leave in the tender stems that attach the leaves to the main stem. You don't need to chop the methi leaves for this recipe because we'll puree them.
I can't get to the Indian store as often as I'd like to. When I need fenugreek leaves for a recipe and don't have any, I substitute young dandelion greens. They have the same pleasant bitterness of methi, similar health benefits, and are more easily available in supermarkets here (or in your backyard, in spring!). You can also use arugula or watercress in this recipe instead of methi.
When an Indian refers to methi, it is usually the methi leaves or the fresh green leaves, which are treated as a vegetable. Kasoori methi are dried methi leaves with a concentrated flavor and they are used chiefly as an herb. Methi seeds are the hard, brown seeds of the fenugreek plant and they are more bitter than the leaves, so they aren't a good substitute for either fresh methi or kasoori methi. Methi seeds are used in spice mixes like curry powder and in fermented dishes like dosa and idli.
To keep the methi chaman nut-free, use ¼ cup pumpkin seeds or melon seeds instead of the cashews. To make it soy-free, either just skip the tofu or use chickpea tofu or any soy-free tofu.
Store the methi chaman in the fridge for up to four days. If you plan on freezing it, don't add tofu to the dish. Before serving, thaw and reheat the dish in the microwave or on the stovetop, then stir in the tofu and simmer for five minutes before serving.
More Kashmiri and north Indian recipes
Recipe card
Methi Chaman
Ingredients
- ¼ cup raw cashews
- 16 oz high protein tofu (also called super firm tofu. Cut the tofu in ½-inch cubes)
- 2 tablespoons oil (avocado oil or any neutral oil)
- 5 oz methi greens (a large bunch, tough stems trimmed)
- 5 oz spinach (or baby spinach. If using regular spinach trim any tough stems and chop the greens roughly)
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1-inch stick cinnamon
- 4 green cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- 5 cloves garlic (crushed or put through a garlic press)
- 2 medium tomatoes (finely chopped)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ to 1 teaspoon cayenne (or any red chilli powder)
- 1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
- 1 heaping tsp garam masala
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- 2-3 cups water
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Make cashew cream
- Place cashews in blender with ½ cup water and blend into a smooth paste. If not using a high-powered blender, soak the cashews for 30 minutes before blending. This will help them soften and become creamy when blended.
Brown the tofu
- Heat avocado oil or any neutral oil in a wide skillet or Dutch oven. Add the tofu cubes and brown them on all sides.
- Remove the browned tofu cubes to a plate or bowl and set aside. Leave behind any oil that remains in the pan.
Blanch and puree the greens
- Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the spinach and methi greens and stir them in. The leaves should wilt quickly. Let them remain in the pot for three more minutes. Strain in a colander.
- Place the leafy greens in a blender and add ¼ cup water. Blend into a very smooth paste. Set aside.
Make methi chaman
- In the pan used to fry the tofu, over high heat, add the mustard seeds, asafetida, cinnamon stick, cloves and green cardamom pods. After the mustard sputters and pops, add the onions along with a pinch of salt.
- Sauté the onions 3-5 minutes over medium heat until just beginning to brown. Stir in and sauté the garlic until you can smell the aroma, about 30 seconds.
- Add the tomatoes, ground coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and turmeric to the pan. Mix everything and cook until the tomatoes are very soft and pulpy.
- Stir in the ginger garlic paste and sauté another 30 seconds.
- Add the pureed greens to the onions and tomatoes with 2 cups water.
- Add sugar and garam masala to the greens. Mix well and let the greens simmer, without covering the pot, for 10 minutes or until the greens don't taste raw anymore. Stir frequently and add some water if the greens start sticking to the bottom of the pan.
- Stir in the browned tofu cubes and the cashew cream. Mix well, return to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Check for salt and turn off heat. Serve the methi chaman hot.
Nutrition Information
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First published on Nov. 11, 2011. Updated and re-published on Jan. 31, 2025.
John Skiggn says
Hi Vaishali, in the “make the Chaman” section, it calls for asafetida, but in the ingredients, it does not list it. I’m currently in the process of making it, so I just added a tsp, hoping that is what it calls for, but not certain. Can you please update the ingredients part. Thanks,
Vaishali says
Hi John, it should be no more than 1/4 tsp. Sorry about the omission and I'll clarify.
Trish says
Hi Vaishali,
I love your recipes and I'd like to try this one. I can't get fresh Methi where I live (Tasmania) but have a box of dried leaves. Could you let me know how much I'd need to substitute.
Thank you!
Trish
Vaishali says
Hi Trish, use 1/4 cup of the dried leaves. The flavor is more concentrated so a little goes a long way. Hope you love it!