North Indian
Palak Dal (Spinach Lentils)
Palak Dal (Spinach Lentils) is North Indian home cooking, eaten at lunch and dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre, the protein alongside, and the soup. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup yellow moong dal
- 3/4 cup toor dal
- 4 cups spinach
- 4.5 cups water
- 3/4 tsp turmeric
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- 2 green chilies
- 1 tomato
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp red chili powder
- 3 tbsp neutral oil
- 1/2 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
How to cook it
- Rinse both dals and pressure cook them with the turmeric, tomato, salt, and water until soft.
- Stir the chopped spinach into the hot dal and let it wilt, then whisk it lightly so the dal stays brothy.
- Heat the oil in a small pan and let the cumin seeds sizzle, then add the garlic, ginger, and green chilies and cook until golden.
- Stir in the red chili powder off the heat and pour the tempering into the dal.
- Simmer for 5 minutes, finish with a squeeze of lemon, and serve.
Serve it with
A North Indian dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Palak Dal (Spinach Lentils), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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What it is eaten with
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The sharp little thing
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand. Palak Dal (Spinach Lentils) carries none of them. That is a checked answer rather than an ingredient list nobody read.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | No | |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | No |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Bands, not numbers. Dinejot does not weigh anybody's food, so it says light, moderate or hearty and stops there. This dish was read and set by hand.
- Calorie band
- Moderate
- Protein
- Medium
- Protein quality
- Partial
- Food groups it covers
- Pulses and Vegetables
- How this was set
- Hand audited
When to cook it
Palak Dal (Spinach Lentils) takes about 40 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at lunch and dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
Watch someone make it
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More to cook
Cooked from the same things
Other dishes built on moong dal, spinach, and garlic.
From the same kitchens
More cooking from North India, South India, West India, East India, and Northeast India.
Does the same job on the plate
Swap any of these in when you want a meal the same shape.
Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.