Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)

Print Recipe

5 from 61 votes

Spinach dal is a hearty, wholesome, and healthy dal made with spinach and toor dal (arhar dal or pigeon pea).

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indian

Diet: Diabetic, Gluten Free, Hindu, Vegan, Vegetarian

Servings:

Calories: 150kcal

Author: Shilpa Kerur

Ingredients

1½ cups toor dal (pigeon pea lentils)
10 oz frozen spinach
2 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
½ teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon hing asafetida
1 sprig curry leaves
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
1 large onion chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 green chili slit
1½ teaspoon salt (adjust as per taste)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
6 cups water

Instructions

Rinse the toor dal thoroughly in water and set it aside.
Set the Instant Pot in saute mode and add oil.
Add mustard seeds and let it splutter.
Add cumin seeds, hing, curry leaves, and garlic. Saute for a few seconds.
Add onions and saute for 3-4 minutes.
Add toor dal, frozen spinach, tomatoes, turmeric powder, salt, and green chili.
Add 6 cups of water. Mix well and deglaze the pot.
Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook mode for 8 minutes.
Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
Open the lid and squeeze in the lemon juice or lime juice.
Serve hot with steamed rice.

Video

Notes

I am using frozen spinach leaves; however, regular spinach or baby spinach leaves also can be used. For every cup of frozen greens, replace it with 2 cups of fresh greens.

I am using 4 cups of water in one cup toor dal. Adjust the amount of water to get the desired consistency of dal.

For fresh spinach, clean the leaves and roughly chop the leaves. Add the fresh spinach only after pressure cooking the dal. Follow this recipe, but do not add the fresh spinach along with the dal. Once the pressure is released from the Instant Pot, set it to saute mode and add the chopped spinach. Simmer for 2-3 minutes. The rest of the recipe remains the same.

Nutrition