Dal Palak | Spinach Dal

Dal Palak is a spicy and delicious split chana dal cooked with fresh spinach leaves and served with roti make a healthy and comforting weekday dinner.

What is Dal Palak?

Dal Palak is simple and very delicious spinach and lentil curry made with fresh spinach leaves and split Bengal gram (chana dal). It has protein, iron, and calcium and pairs very well with flatbreads and or rice.

Normally, I prefer chana dal to make dal palak curry but you can simply replace it with yellow split moong dal or any other dal of your choice.

Basic Ingredients for dal palak:

The basic ingredients to make dal palak are listed below.

• Firstly, Dal- Chana dal or moong dal is preferred to make this dish, use whichever you like most.
• Spinach leaves- Use fresh baby spinach leaves or chopped regular ones.
• Garlic and Ginger- They add nice flavors to the dish.
• Onion-Use red onions for better flavor and taste.
• Tomato and green chilli- Fresh Roma or vine tomatoes would go best for the recipe.
• Spices- Turmeric, coriander, red chilli, and garam masala are used in the recipe.
• Salt-Use as per your taste.
• Ghee or Oil- I prefer making my deals in ghee only but to make it vegan you can use any kind of odorless cooking oil.
• Cumin seeds and Aseftida-To temper the dal, these two ingredients are a must.

How to make Dal Palak?

The first step is to pressure cook or boil the dal until soft. After that keep all ingredients ready and make the tadka. For that, first heat oil with cumin, ginger garlic, and onions and saute them until lightly golden.

Now you shall add tomatoes, green chilli, and all the spices along with salt and cook this mixture until ghee comes out from the tomatoes. At this pint add the spinach leaves and cook until slightly soft.

The final step is to transfer the tadka on top of the cooked dal and mix until everything combines. You may temper it again with red chili and some chopped garlic cloves.

Serving Suggestions:

Serve this humble dal palak with ghee smeared chapati, paratha and or rice. Also add it with some raita, chutney, papadum, and salad to make it even more inviting.

Looking for more such dal recipes to get some ideas for your lunch or dinner? Do not miss my Dhabe wali Dal and Musuri Dal and the best one’s Moong Chilka Dal.

*If you ever try this recipe don’t forget to share your photos with me on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or tag me on Instagram @cookingwithsapana using the hashtag #cookingwithsapana and stay connected* I would love to see your creations from my space!!

Spinach Moog Dal Curry

Sapana Behl

Spinach Moog Dal Curry

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4 People

Equipment

• Pressure Cooker
• Wok

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1/2 cup split chana dal
• 400 gm spinach leaves washed and chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ginger, grated
• 2 green chillies, chopped
• 4 tablespoon clarified butter/ghee, use oil for vegan option
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• a pinch asafetida
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 teaspoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• salt to tastev
• water as required
• To temper
• 4 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

Instructions

 

• Wash and pressure cook split chana dal into 2 cups of water, a pinch of turmeric and salt. Remove from heat and set aside.
• In a wok or saucepan heat two tablespoon ghee. Add asafetida and cumin seeds, stir and add chopped onion and ginger.
• Saute for few minutes until onions are golden brown.
• Now add the chopped tomatoes, green chillies, turmeric, coriander, garam masala and salt.
• Stir and cook until tomatoes are soft and ghee comes out from the edges of the pan.
• Now add the spinach leaves along with half a cup of water and cook for 5-7 minutes.
• Finally, add the cooked dal, stir and let it boil for few minutes or until desired consistency.
• Remove from heat and set aside. In another small pan heat 2 tablespoons of ghee.
• Add chopped garlic and cumin seeds and fry until light golden in colour.
• Remove from heat and add the red chilli powder in it. Stir and pour the tempering over the cooked dal palak.
• Serve with roti and salad. Enjoy.

Notes

Adjust spices as per your taste and preferences.

You may cook the spinach dal using any dal of your choice like moong dal or too dal.

Keyword dal palak, spinach dal, spinach dal curry

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Best Regards,
Sapana Behl