Dal Palak

This is my first dal recipe in my blog and is the most basic one. Spinach / Palak is low in fat and also lower in cholesterol, high in protein and fiber. It is high in Vitamin A, C, E and K. It is extremely rich in Calcium, Iron, Folate and antioxidants. As it has high nutritional value, it can be cooked individually as a vegetable or as a combination with other vegetables. By cooking the fiber and mineral rich Spinach / Palak with proteinaceous dal, we get what is called Spinach dal / Dal palak recipe and this result is extremely delicious.

There are many different variations of this recipe. I will prepare many of them and share in future. Today, I begin with a simple and basic one.

You can prepare this recipe with any lentils of your choice, I have used Arhar dal / Tuvar dal  / Split red gram and Dhuli moong dal  / Split yellow lentils in this preparation. You can prepare with onion, ginger and garlic. It can also be prepared without garlic and onion. It can be prepared by adding only onion or only garlic in the tempering.

This dal palak goes really well with steamed rice or jeera rice. It can also be served with chapatis / rotis / phulkas or any stuffed parathas of your choice.

Here is the step by step recipe of this wonderful dish.

For dal palak we need the following ingredients.

INGREDIENTS :

(1) Arhar dal / Tuvar dal  / Split red gram and Dhuli moong dal  / Split yellow lentils, 50 gms each. That is half cup each. 

(2) Spinach / Palak, One and half cup chopped.

(3) 2 small sized Tomatoes chopped, equal to 1 cup.

(4) 2 whole Red Chillies

(5) Clarified butter / Ghee - 2 table spoon

(6) 8 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped

(7) Turmeric / Haldi powder

(8) Garam Masala powder - 1 tea spoon

(9) Coriander / Dhaniya powder - 1 tea spoon

(10) Cumin / Jeera powder - Half tea spoon

(11) Asafoetida / Hing powder - 3 pinch

(12) Salt to taste

(13) Water for cooking

METHOD :

(1) Wash the Arhar dal / Tuvar dal  / Split red gram and Dhuli Moong dal  / Split yellow lentils  thoroughly in water. 

(2) Also, rinse the Spinach / Palak in water and cut off the stem part. Chop the spinach into medium sized pieces.

Chopped Spinach / Palak

(3) In a pressure cooker, take the washed Arhar / Tuvar daal and Moong dal and add three glasses of water equal to 600 ml. You may take water sufficient to cook the dal. 

(4) Add the chopped Tomatoes.

(5) Add salt to taste. Close the lid of the pressure cooker and cook the dal in it till it gives three three whistles. Turn off the gas stove flame and allow it to cool down and release the pressure.

(6) Open the lid and add chopped spinach to the cooked dal. Add the dry spice powders like Turmeric / Haldi powder, Coriander / Dhaniya powder, Cumin / Jeera powder and Garam Masala powder. Mix well. Allow the spinach to cook in the dal for 5 - 8 mins on a medium flame without closing the lid of the pressure cooker this time. Then turn off the flame.

(7) In a tempering ladle, heat 2 table spoon of clarified butter / ghee and let it melt. Now when it is melt, add 3 pinch of Hing / Asafoetida powder and chopped garlic. Saute till the garlic turns golden brown.  Add 2 whole red chillies cut into half in the tadka / tempering and after sautéing for 10 seconds turn off the gas flame. Add this tempering  to the Dal palak. 

(8) Dal palak or Spinach dal is ready to serve. Take it onto a serving bowl.

(9) Serve with steamed rice and Aloo bhujia as side dish as shown in the image.