Dal Palak | Lentils and Spinach

Lentils and spinach, truly a wholesome and nutritious combination. And what makes it even better it, this combo taste really good too. There are varieties of dals out there, each with a unique taste of its own allowing you to play around with teaming them up in various combinations to get a new preparation each time! :) 

I personally love preparing dal varieties for the simple reason that I do not have to cut many veggies :P Cutting vegetables is what puts me off most of the times and I look for dishes that call for minimal cutting! :D

  

Spinach is one of the easiest vegetables to deal with. In no times, a whole bunch is washed, chopped and ready to cook. That leaves me with just an onion and tomato to chop. It's okay, not much :) So here is a simple dal preparation, using spinach, onion, tomato and some spices.

Ingredients

Assorted Dal - 1 cup

(I used a portion of Masoor Dal, Toor Dal, Moong Dal and Split Black Dal)

Spinach - 1 bunch

Onion - 1 medium

Tomato - 1 medium

Ginger-Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Red Chilly Powder - 1 tsp

Cumin Powder - 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp

Garam Masala Powder - 1/2 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Cinnamon Stick - 1

Star Anise - 1-2

Oil - 1 tbsp

Water - a little

Salt - to taste

Method

• Wash and chop the spinach bunch.
• Chop the onion and tomato into small cubes.

• Wash the assorted dals, drain out water and keep aside.

• Heat oil in a pan, add cumin seeds and allow to splatter.
• Add Cinnamon stick and broken star anise pieces.

• Add the chopped onions and fry till golden brown.
• Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

• Add salt and ginger-garlic paste. Mix well.

• Add the washed dal mix and stir again.

• Now add the chopped spinach.

• To this add the turmeric powder, chilly powder, garam masala and cumin powder.

• Add sufficient water enough to cover the mixture such that the water level is about 1 inch above the mixture. Pressure cook for about 10-15 minutes and alleast 4-5 whistles.

•  Mix all the ingredients well. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot with rotis or rice.