This wonderful bowl of palak dal or spinach dal curry is one of my favorite comfort food recipes for the winter. Just the smell of sizzling cumin, onion and garlic wafting through the house is enough to awaken anyone’s appetite. Serve this easy, filling dish with rice, rotis or bread.
Red choy or red spinach tastes great in this recipe
Any kind of dal or lentils will work here. You can use red lentils (masoor dal) in this dish as well. I like yellow lentils or mung or moong dal. I often use red spinach (Asian red choy or choi) in this recipe. Red spinach tastes a lot like spinach, but has red colored veins, and takes just a bit longer to cook than baby spinach leaves.
Some more delicious spinach dal recipes..
Palak dal or spinach dal recipe from vahrehvah.com
Spinach dal recipe on Mahanandi
Spinach dal recipe using toor dal on Chow and Chatter
Spinach dal curry recipe on Spicy Tasty
Creamy Spinach Dal or Spinach Lentils or Palak Dal Recipe
Serves about 4
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
1-2 green chilies, slit (optional)
1 small onion, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
2 plum tomato, chopped
1 cup yellow lentils (moong dal)
¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 tablespoon heavy cream
1 cup fresh, washed, baby spinach leaves or red choy leaves, packed tightly
Heat oil in a medium sauce pan. Add the cumin seeds. When they sizzle, add the green chilly if using, and stir 30 seconds. Then add onion, garlic, and tomato. Stir on medium heat till they are soft, about 5 minutes. Add the lentils and turmeric and stir 2 more minutes.
Pour 3 cups water and add salt to the lentils. Bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer. Place a lid on the saucepan and cook till lentils are done, about 15 minutes. Using the back of a wooden spoon, lightly mash the dal, so that the tomatoes and onion pieces are mashed into the lentils. Add the heavy cream and spinach leaves. Stir the spinach leaves into the dal till they wilt, about 1 minutes. Add more water to the dal, if needed.
Serve hot with rice, rotis or bread.
Now I know why dal always gives me a little tummy ache after I eat it… but I enjoy it anyway. And now that I know how how to make it… I’m definitely going to try it out!
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
November 29th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
if dal/lentils bother your stomach, add a pich of asafoetida to the oil, it helps digestion
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FoodieAnn Reply:
November 29th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Thats a great tip for me…We often avoid eating dal for dinner due to this…Thanks…:)
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Anna Reply:
October 23rd, 2012 at 12:38 pm
We have noticed that homemade Dal doesn’t upset the tummy – only restaurant Dal. We think it is the amount/type of fat that varies. You might have better luck with homemade.
That looks so creamy and good. I have never tried red choy before… will keep a lookout for them next time.
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
November 29th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
you’ll find red choy at the asian market. its like thandangkeerai.
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Such a lovely dal! Really comforting.
Cheers,
Rosa
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A very satisfying meal, always! Spinach rocks!
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Nothing can beat a simple home cooked dal !
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Healthy n tasty curry
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Love the Spinach dal…The dal in those tiny Dutch ovens are gorgeous..
Gayu
http://ensamayalarangam.blogspot.com
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This is my family favorite Sala. Thanks for sharing n reminding me that I have some spinach sitting in my fridge
Its been a while since I visited your gorgeous space n it looks gorgeous as always! Hope u r doing great!
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Such a beautiful color that dal is having, we get here french spinach don’t know if that is same like the one you mentioned, should check out in the web.
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Red choy sounds interesting, I am a great fan of daal palak ( or with methi as well ) . Comforting indeed!
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I remember those ramekins from your pot pies, and I still find them just as pretty
. As for the food, I can never resist a good dal. Perfect for the cold wet weather we’re having around here.
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wow thats very tempting, we do make spinach gravy nearly same as you did and we call it in marathi ‘ gar ga te’ also tastes nice with Jowar Bhakri
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Red choy is great. Too bad it is not widely available here in the US. I find it in the Asian markets during the Summer months. This dish looks delicious. I love vegetarian Indian inspired meals.
Heguiberto
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This looks so tasty and a nice change from my usual lentil soup (easy recipe too!) Thanks!
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That’s a fantastic twist with cream, Sala
I love red spinach too ..
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Love the greens in dal. Would try to get my hands on this spinach.
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Lovely and healthy dal. Love the clicks as well.
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Oh, yum. What a perfect dish in its simplicity. Turmeric turns everything so gorgeous color!
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I make this meal once a week and never get tired of eating it.
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delicious, healthy and flavorful! Happy New Year!
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Hi,
I made this tonight and the moong dal didn’t disintegrate at all, even after half an hour! Does this mean my lentils were old?
Thanks again for the feedback and the delicious recipes!
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 12:13 am
you could try pressure cooking the lentils next time. moong dal usually cooks quickly.
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Hi Sala! Not sure if you remember me – I was in Radha’s class in Madurai. I only recently discovered your blog (on twitter- when I realized some food bloggers I follow, follow your blog). What fun- small world and all that.
That dal looks yummy, btw – Will probably make this tonight.
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I tried this yesterday and 3 cups of water seemed like way too much (to my eye) but I faithfully followed the recipe. It took more than 30 minutes (rather than 15) for the water to be absorbed by the lentils…otherwise there was a lot of excess water, not a sauce. But unfortunately all that water once absorbed made the wonderful flavor of the lentils rather diluted. I added the spinach and milk (not cream, didn’t have any on hand) and the spinach did wilt (and was yummy) but it did not form a green sauce as yours did in the photo above. The only deviation I made from your recipe was that I used red lentils instead of yellow. Thoughts? Thank you!
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
October 11th, 2011 at 7:18 pm
some lentils take longer to cook and require more water than other, so that could have been the issue.
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Tried it. Loved it. Thank you.
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Mine came out quite soupy and the lentils never seemed to mash. I did substitute with lentils I had at home so they may have been the wrong kind. Should I use less water next time?
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
February 14th, 2012 at 3:46 am
different lentils cook differently. If yours were soupy and did not get mushy, you need to cook them longer. Alternatively, try pressure cooking the lentils.
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We try to eat heart healthy so I am wary of using cream. Any suggestions on a substitution?
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
March 14th, 2012 at 6:34 pm
you can use greek yogurt instead of cream
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I’ve just made this but left out the cream and I used green lentils instead. My dal was very watery in taste, is this because of the lentils I used or missing out the cream? Apart from that, I did everything to recipe? Is dal meant to be watery, I’ve never really had it before?
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Will try it tonight! Looks YUM
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I made this recipe and it came out very good (I could’ve cooked the lentils longer than 15 minutes but they were cooked enough), except that it just seemed very bland and I couldn’t really taste any flavor of the spices or veggies. I didn’t use the optional chilies because I don’t like chilies, and I’m pretty sure I followed the recipe perfectly. Is there something I could’ve done to cause this?
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
June 19th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
You could try adding more cream, salt and a squeeze of lemon or lime next time. Also, if you like it more flavorful, try adding 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin when cooking the lentils.
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I thought this was really tasty. Added a few more spices since I like it that way. Question though – were the lentils soaked beforehand? I had to cook them much longer than 15 minutes (more like an hour) for them to be tender enough. This has happened to me before so I wasn’t surprised; maybe it’s something I do wrong all the time!
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Sala @ Veggie Belly Reply:
June 21st, 2012 at 5:33 pm
It could just be the type of lentils you are using. Yes, soaking will definitely help. You could also pressure cook them.
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Hi Sala
My wife and me like the Dal to be creamy but low fat. I have used Yogurt to thicken up the Dal instead of the cream. That really works, after a few tries
Ranga
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Your great homepage also found her way to Switzerland! Thanks so much for sharing such great recipes
I especially love this one..I often serve it with some pappadam. Do you maybe also have a nice pappadam recipe? This would be amazing! I found some in the internet, but actually I`m sure you would have the best
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Hey Sala,
Tonight I saved myself from a trip to the grocery store. I googled my ingredients at hand; lentils and spinach, yellow curry paste, garlic and creamed coconut. The result was your post here!
I did not prepare exactly as you did. I’m dairy free so I used creamed coconut instead.
And it’s so yummy. I love simple recipes like this!
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Hey Sala,
I followed your recipe for tonight’s spinach dal . It came out yummyyyyy:)
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