Tuesday, August 7, 2012

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.

3 comments:

  1. I like the assorted dal idea so much more nutritious and healthy!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Protein packed meal, cant get better

    http://shwetainthekitchen.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  3. dal palak looks really healthy and flavorful

    ReplyDelete