Recipe: Palak Dal (Lentils with spinach)

Hello folks!

I promised in my last post that I will be posting a dal recipe, well here it is!

Dal sounds simple it really is! But there are so many lentils out there and a distint recipe for each one of them. After getting married, my mum gave me a tutorial on the different types of dals/lentil varieties used. And no kidding, it took me almost a year to get the names right! Here we have the following dals, (lentils in India are called Dal)

from left to right, Kaale masoor (brown lentils), masoor (red lentils), tuvar (split pigeon peas) and moong dal.

Each dal has its own way of being cooked and tempered. Tempering is am important technique to infuse flavors in your dal. Heating the oil and then adding aromatics to your dal, perfumes it. The method of boiling and cooking the lentils from dried is standard as shown below. I tend to use a pressure cooker since it cuts down the cooking time in less then half. 1.5 cups of dried lentils gives you about 5-6 cups of cooked lentils. The liquidiness of the dal can be tailored according to your choice. For cooking the dal, go by the ratio of 1:3 i.e for 1 cup dal use about 3 cups of water.

Ingredients used for tempering: (you can add garam masala, but I don’t)

In a skillet, add oil. Once the oil gets hot, add the cumin seeds. The cumin seeds will begin crackling immediately. Next add asafoetida* (read notes in the recipe) and garlic.

Saute for 10 seconds and next add the chopped roma tomatoes and crushed tomatoes.

Cover with a lid and let the tomatoes cook through. They should something like this,

Add three cups of cooked dal.

Once the dal starts bubbling, add the spinach and cover with lid. Keep covered till, the spinach wilts.

Serve.

Recipe:

There are many more ways to make Dal and I will be posting other versions too. I hope you make this dal and if you do let me know if you liked it.