What is Masoor Palak Dal?
Masoor is Red lentil and Palak is spinach, which makes this dal/lentil stew high in protein and a great healthy meal for any day! Red lentil barely takes any time to cook, and that makes it my preferred choice for weeknight dal. You can either boil it in a pressure cooker or in a pot. It barely takes 20 minutes and doesn’t even need prior soaking. Dal is an essential part of the Indian meal. It helps you balance your diet along with rice as well as sabzi (vegetable stir fry) or curry. The lentil can be cooked with different vegetables, spices or herbs to form either a thick stew or a thin soup-like consistency. It’s our comfort food, and there are probably a thousand different ways in which you can make a delicious bowl of daal.
Prepare in a Pot or Pressure Cooker
Red Lentils cooks very fast, which makes it great to cook either in a pot or pressure cooker. I have shared in the recipe card below both the method. And below you can find two recipe videos of the methods as well!
VIDEO OF THE DAL WITHOUT PRESSURE COOKER
Spinach - I prefer using baby spinach for this dish as it cooks faster along with the lentils. Garlic - I love to add lots of garlic in this Masoor Palak Dal. Garlic with spinach is such a great combo, and it enhances the flavor of this dal with the extra tadka on top. Bay Leaf Cumin Seeds and Cumin Power Chopped Onion Tomatoes - You can use chopped tomatoes or cherry tomatoes. Salt and turmeric
Don’t miss the Ghee Tadka
The tadka on top with ghee and more garlic, cumin seeds and dry red chili totally elevates the taste of the dal. Tadka - Tadka is a cooking technique used very commonly in Indian cooking where few whole spices and herbs are tempered in hot oil or ghee. It is then topped on the dish just before serving. This elevates the flavor of the dish to a whole new level.
Fat-free, high in protein, source of iron and fiber, red lentils are a good choice to make your daily meal a balanced meal. When I have spinach at home, I always like to add that to make the daal more filling. Of course, you could always add any other kinds of greens, like chard or kale. Irrespective of what greens you use, just remember to flavor it up at the end. A good tadka (tempering) with ghee, some fresh garlic, little whole spices like cumin and a pinch of chili powder for the pop of color makes all the difference.
MORE DAAL RECIPE TO TRY!
