Palak Dal Recipe | Dal Palak | Spinach Dal Recipe

Palak dal (or spinach dal) is a healthy dal recipe using palak or spinach, a very common ingredient in Indian cuisine. You can make palak dal with either toor dal or moong dal(or even masoor dal) and this version I have used toor dal to make palak dal.

A true comfort food, palak dal makes for the best accompaniment with hot rice and subzi on a weeknight. The apartment we live in right now is very convenient to buy basic groceries and vegetables. On every Sunday, a van full of the freshest vegetables from the farmer’s on the outskirts of Hyderabad come to the road below our place and people flock to it to buy their week’s worth of vegetables. They are cheaper than the stores too! I rush down each time I see the van and although I buy 1/10th the amount of vegetables others buy, the vegetable vendors treat me well 😀

I bought a bunch of palak yesterday and have been wondering what to make with it. I considered palak paneer, but I didn’t have any paneer in hand and was too lazy to buy paneer or make my own. I always have a stock of dal (of course) and decided to take the easy route and make some palak dal instead. No regrets!

Palak Dal Recipe

Ingredients for Palak Dal:
Serves 2

Toor dal/Yellow lentil – 1 cup
Fresh green spinach, chopped – 1 cup
Turmeric powder – 1/4 tsp
Garlic – 4 cloves
Red chillies – 4
Curry leaves – one strand
Oil – 2 tbsp
Salt – to taste

How to make Palak Dal:

1. Pressure cook the dal and spinach with some turmeric for 2-3 whistles.

2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a kadai, crackle some mustard seeds, add the crushed garlic and red chillies and fry for a minute.

3. Add the cooked dal-spinach and mix well.

Serve hot with rice or rots. Palak dal also goes well with jeera rice or other mildly spiced rice dishes.