Dal palak is easy to make tasty and healthy dish to include in everyday meals. You can serve the dal as dal rice or dal chapati meal, it tastes great any which way. This makes Perfect vegan low GI, Gluten-free healthy dish for the weeknight dinner. Dal or lentil soup as they are known in western world is an essential food item in most of the Indian cuisine. In Punjabi homes dal is considered a staple dish in our meals. Dal chawal or Dal Roti is considered a comfort meal in most Indian homes. We prepare a variety of Dal recipes all over India though method of preparation (mostly tempering or tadka) is different in different regions.
This Dal Palak Is:
Gluten-free, vegetarian, protein rich healthy Lentil dish Can be made extra spicy or less spicy as per taste preference. You can make vegan spinach dal using this same recipe. No Onion No Garlic Dal Recipe
Ingredients for Dal Palak
Dal/ Lentils: I use 3 lentils in making this dal palak recipe. Split moong dal which is also known as broken moong. This is whole moong with husk but split into two. Second Dal I add is yellow pigeon pea also known as toor dal as well as chana dal. You can make it with just moong dal if you do not want to use mixed dals. Spinach/Palak: Fresh spinach leaves. If you can’t find fresh spinach you can use frozen spinach Tomatoes: Fresh tomatoes work best. But again if you don’t have fresh canned chopped tomatoes can be used. Ginger: grated 2 green chillies: chopped optionalSeasonings & Spices: Salt to taste, Kashmiri Red Chilli powder, turmeric powder, asafoetida hing, Dried Red chilli, Coarsely ground chilli powder.
Instant Pot Spinach Dal
Usually, in Indian households, the dal palak/spinach dal is made in a pressure cooker, but you can make dal palak in the Instant pot as well.
Recipe Notes : Punjabi Moong Dal Palak
Punjabi moong Dal palak recipe is usually made with moong dal (split moong dal) and palak (spinach). Some people make it with skinned moong (yellow dal) or Split pigeon peas (toor dal). Usually in Punjabi dal recipes tadka of onion tomato and ginger garam masala is added. But tadka for this moong dal palak is slightly different and very simple. I like to add a slight variation in terms of dal used. I add a very small portion of toor dal/arhar dal and chana dal/gram dal in the recipe. This enhances the taste considerably.
Since dal palak is made with lentils and vegetables that make it quite healthy meal option. It is gluten-free naturally and low GI recipe and suitable for diabetics. You can enjoy it as a soup or Dal chawal for a wholesome hearty meal. It tastes great with chapati or naan.
Meal Prep for the Dal Palak
You can wash dal and clean and chop spinach and tomato, grated ginger previous night and keep it in the fridge. This will reduce the cooking time since dals will be nicely soaked. For the dinner all you have to do is pressure cook dal which takes two minutes to take it out of the refrigerator and place it on the heat. The tadka for dal palak is easy and takes another 2 minutes. SO effective time while cooking is 4-5 minutes only.
How to Store Leftover Dal
You can store leftover Dal palak in refrigerator for 2 days. When You want to reheat just pop into microwave for 3-4 minutes and hot bowl of dal is ready to be relished.
How To Freeze:
Dals are an extremely freezer friendly meal. Dal palak can be frozen as it is. Make sure to use a glass container which is freezer friendly and microwave friendly. While serving you can just take it out of the freezer and place it in the refrigerator for few hours to thaw and reheat as usual. Dal will taste better and creamier this way. You can freeze dal palak for up to 6-8 weeks in the freezer so make sure to mark the date of storage. If you are making a batch specifically for freezing you can cook it till 75% done. In this method no need to thaw. Just remove the lid and place the container in the microwave and cook on high power for 10 minutes. An incredibly delicious and healthy Spinach dal is ready.
More Such Recipes
Yellow moong dal Tadka Punjabi Sabut moong dal dal fry Recipe Cream of Spinach Soup Slow cooked Dal Makhani in Pressure cooker Healthy Stove Top Dal Makhani Lagar Wali Dal Dal Fry Recipe
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