Dal Palak Recipe | Easy Spinach Dal

One seasonal favorite, another a classic source of plant-based proteins, especially in the diets of vegetarians and vegans. When both these come together in a dish, it is just a celebration of flavors for the palate! Yes, that’s what is happening in this easy-peasy and simple, yet tasty and comforting Dal Palak recipe. This Spinach Dal made with pigeon pea lentils or yellow lentils (tuvar dal), red lentils (masoor dal) and winter special fresh spinach (palak) is both a different and nutritious way of including dal in your diet.

Dal Palak or Spinach Dal

Cooking various lentils or dals with fresh seasonal greens is a common practice in Indian households. This Dal Palak is one of the most popular Lentil Recipes in Indian cuisine. It combines the goodness of arhar or tuvar dal (pigeon pea lentils), masoor dal (red lentils) and fresh palak (spinach leaves) that the winter season brings.

There are many ways of making Dal Palak. In this post, I have shared the no onion, no garlic variation of the Dal Palak. This delicious recipe without onion and garlic added to it, is a very simple and easy one and won’t take much of your time.

Like I mentioned earlier, in India, we do add vegetables and leafy greens to our lentil or dal-based dishes. This wholesome Dal Palak is one of those prominent ones, especially during the winters as this is the season of fresh spinach.

Spinach has a high nutritional value and is extremely rich in antioxidants, iron, calcium, vitamins and minerals. Many people and most of the kids are not really fond of greens like spinach, fenugreek leaves, amaranth leaves, etc. But when we mix these greens with dals or legumes, then the dish not only becomes tasty but also healthy.

This Dal Palak is a great way of getting your fussy kids to consume their share of these lovely greens of the season. In this particular recipe, you can substitute the spinach (palak) with amaranth leaves (chaulai) or fenugreek leaves (methi) and even kale. I have made a kale dal too.

Spinach and dal a.k.a lentils go very well together. I have adapted this Dal Palak recipe from a friend, who is as enthusiastic as me, when it comes to cooking, eating and feeding sumptuous food.

Being a meditator, he would never add onion, garlic and chilies to his food. Once at his home, he made this dal for us. I thought it would taste bland without onions and garlic, but I was wrong.

The Dal Palak was so good. It had the subtle aroma of the ghee, cumin and ginger tempering plus was creamy and soft. You can use oil too, for the tempering. However, for a better taste, use ghee.

Onions and garlic have a strong flavor. I am sure this dal would also taste great with onions and garlic added to it. There are no heavy spices like garam masala added in this preparation.

Our friend also used 2 lentils in the Dal Palak recipe – tuvar or arhar dal (split pigeon peas/yellow lentils) and masoor dal (red lentils/orange lentils). You can use both these lentils or make it just with tuvar dal as well.

I have also added some chopped green chilies and red chili powder. The chilies just enhance the taste of the dal without making it spicy or hot.

You can serve and relish Dal Palak with roti, chapatis, phulka, parathas or steamed basmati rice. They also pair well with Jeera Rice and Ghee Rice.

How to make Dal Palak

Pressure Cook Lentils and Prep Spinach

1. Pick and rinse ¼ cup tuvar dal (yellow lentils) and ¼ cup masoor dal (orange lentils) a few times in water.

Add the rinsed lentils to a 2-liter stovetop pressure cooker. Also, add ½ teaspoon turmeric powder and 1.5 cups water.

2. On medium heat, pressure cook the lentils for 10 to 11 minutes or 7 to 8 whistles or until the lentils become soft and mushy.

Open the lid only when the pressure settles naturally and check the cooked lentils. Mash lightly with a spoon.

3. While the lentils are cooking, prep the spinach. First rinse some spinach leaves thoroughly in water a few times. Drain all the water and set it aside.

Chop the rinsed spinach finely and measure. You will need 2 cups of chopped spinach leaves.

Set the chopped palak aside. You can choose to add more quantities of spinach if you prefer.

Make Dal Palak

4. In a pan or kadai, heat 2 tablespoons ghee or oil. Fry 1 teaspoon cumin seeds on low heat until they splutter.

For a vegan spinach dal, use oil. You can use any neutral tasting oil.

5. When the cumin seeds are spluttering, add 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger and ½ to ½ to 1 teaspoon chopped green chilies.

Fry for some seconds or till the raw aroma of the ginger goes away.

6. Add the 2 cups of finely chopped spinach and mix it with the rest of the fried ingredients.

Apart from spinach, you can also add amaranth leaves or fenugreek leaves and even kale.

7. Sauté the spinach for 4 to 5 minutes on low heat, stirring in between, till the spinach leaves soften and wilt.

8. Now, add ¼ teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder and ¼ teaspoon asafoetida (hing). Mix these spices with the spinach and sauté for half a minute.

Skip asafoetida, if you don’t have it. But note that there will be a difference in the taste and flavor of the dal without asafoetida.

9. Now, add the mashed lentils. Season with salt as needed.

10. Add ½ to 1 cup water to the spinach dal. Mix thoroughly.

The quantity of water will depend on how much thick or thin you want the consistency to be. I added 1 cup water for a medium flowing consistency.

For a thicker consistency skip adding water or add ¼ to ½ cup water. If you want a slightly thinner dal, add more water.

11. Simmer the dal for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir often, so that the lentils do not stick to the bottom of the pan.

12. Turn off the heat and serve Dal Palak hot with rice or roti and a side vegetable dish, salad or raita. To make a bigger batch you can easily double or triple this recipe.

Expert Tips

1. Spinach: You can use the stems if they are tender. If the spinach leaves are too large and the stems are fibrous and dense, then only use the leaves and do not add the stems.
2. Frozen spinach: In off season or when you don’t have access to fresh spinach, you can prepare these recipes with frozen spinach. Remember to thaw the frozen spinach and then squeeze to remove all of the water from it.
3. Other leafy greens: In addition to spinach leaves, you can also add fresh fenugreek leaves (methi), fresh amaranth leaves (chaulai) or even kale in these recipes.
4. Lentils: The same recipe can be made wholly or in a half-half ratio with lentils like – moong lentils, red lentils and chana dal. For chana dal if using them with other lentils, soak them in water for 30 minutes, before pressure cooking. Also add some more water when using chana dal.
5. Cooking lentils: When cooking lentils, always use lentils which are fresh and in their shelf period. The cooking time is increased with aged or old lentils. In this case, if the lentils are undercooked, then add some more water and continue to pressure cook till done well.
6. Fats: Dal Palak can be cooked with ghee (clarified butter) or any neutral tasting oil. Of course, for a better and more authentic flavor, use ghee.
7. Flavor: Increase the green chilies and red chili powder for a spicy dal. For a less spicy version, you can decrease these spices. A bit of lemon juice added to the dal gives a nice tang.
8. Consistency: You can make the dal thin or thick by adding less or more water once it is cooked.

FAQs

More Dal Recipes To Try!

Dal (Lentils) & Legumes

Dal Fry Recipe | How to make Dal Fry

Dal (Lentils) & Legumes

Chana Dal Recipe (Punjabi Style)

Dal (Lentils) & Legumes

Dal Makhani Recipe (Authentic Punjabi Style)

Dal (Lentils) & Legumes

Masoor Dal Recipe | Indian Red Lentils Recipe

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This Dal Palak recipe from the archives was first published on Feb 2012. It has been updated and republished on February 2024.