Dal Palak (Indian Spinach Dal)
Make a five star restaurant style dal palak with this simple recipe. The creamy dal and silky spinach are melded together with a sizzling garlic tadka.
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 253kcal
Equipment
- Pressure cooker or saucepan with lid (for cooking lentils). You can also use an Instant Pot.
- Small saucepan (for tadka)
Ingredients
For first tadka
- 1 teaspoon oil (use avocado or any neutral oil, or refined coconut oil, which is flavorless)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (or 1 dried red chili pepper. Tweak the amount to your preference for heat.)
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 medium onion (red onion preferred, finely chopped)
- 1 heaping tsp ginger garlic paste
- 2 tomatoes (pureed, or ¾ cup canned puree)
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon cayenne (optional if sensitive to heat)
- 9 ounces baby spinach (or regular spinach, about two bunches. Trim off tough stems and chop roughly. If using baby spinach you can use the whole leaf with stem, no need to chop).
- Salt to taste
For final tadka
- 1 tablespoon oil (avocado or any neutral oil, or unrefined coconut oil)
- ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 12-14 cloves garlic (thinly sliced. You can use more or less, but the more garlicky this dal is, the tastier it gets.)
- ½ teaspoon paprika (optional)
Instructions
Cook the dals
- Place toor dal and moong dal in a pot or a pressure cooker. Wash under running water. Add enough water to cover the dals by two inches, and add ¼ teaspoon turmeric.
- If cooking in a pressure cooker, cook for three whistles. If cooking the dal on the stovetop, bring the dal to a boil, cover, and simmer about 30 minutes or until the dal is very, very soft and purees easily when whisked. Skim off any foam that rises to the top during cooking and top off with more water if needed at any point. You can cook the lentils up to four days ahead and store them in the fridge before using.
Make first tadka
- In a Dutch oven heat 1 teaspoon oil over high heat. Add ½ teaspoon mustard seeds and wait for them to sputter.
- Lower heat to the lowest point on your stove and add red pepper flakes and asafetida.
- Add onions to the pot with some salt and increase heat to medium. Sauté the onions over medium heat until soft, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add ginger garlic paste and mix. Sauté for a minute.
- Add the tomato puree, ground coriander, remaining half teaspoon of turmeric and half teaspoon cayenne. Mix and sauté until there is no liquid in the pot.
- Put all the spinach into the pot. Mix in the spinach until it has wilted down, which should happen very quickly. Immediately add in the cooked, pureed lentils.
- Mix the lentils and spinach and add up to two cups of water depending on how thick or thin you want the dal to be. Bring the dal to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for five minutes. Check for salt and add more if needed. Squeeze in lemon juice.
Make the second tadka
- While the spinach is simmering, heat a tablespoon of oil in a small skillet. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and sliced garlic. Sauté until the garlic turns golden but don't let it brown too much or it will get bitter. Turn off the heat and add in the paprika, if using.
- Carefully pour the hot oil with garlic over the spinach dal. Turn off heat. Serve the dal hot.
Notes
- Add a little more oil to the garlic tadka if the garlic begins to stick. Stay with the tadka - don't walk away - because the garlic can brown fast.
Nutrition
Calories: 253kcal | Carbohydrates: 39g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.02g | Potassium: 631mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 6853IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 131mg | Iron: 4mg