Lasooni Palak Dal \ Garlic flavored Lentils with Spinach

I make a very simple style dal which is the quickest dish that I can make to go along with chapathis/jeera rice etc and that is one of the main reason I make it so often too. Apart from that the taste of dal fry is so soothing and comforting. Sometimes when I want to make some really nice subji for rotis but do not have the mood to spend so much time in the the kitchen, I make more complicated varieties of Dal like palak dal, methi dal, panchratan dal etc. Palak Dal has been on my to-blog list for long and finally we are here. Though palak dal may not seem very different from the South India Keerai Kootu, taste-wise it is very different and the special tempering of garlic to this dal makes it absolutely delicious.

I would strongly recommend pairing this with either Jeera Rice or rotis :)

Ingredients

Serves - 4
Prep Time - 15 min
Cook time - 20 min
Spice Level - Moderate

Toor Dal - 3/4 cup
Spinach - 250 gm, 1 bunch, washed well, stems removed, and chopped well
Turmeric - 1/4 tsp
Green chillies - 4
Onion - 1 small sized, chopped well
Tomato - 1 , chopped well
Ginger - 1 small piece, chopped well
Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped well
Jeera seeds - 1 tsp
Red chilli powder - 1 Tsp
Garam Masala - 1/2 Tsp
Oil - 2 Tsp

For seasoning

Oil - 2 Tsp
Hing - a pinch
Mustard seeds - 1 Tsp
Garlic cloves - 4 , finely chopped
Dry red chilli - 1

How do you do it

1. Pressure cook dal with turmeric and 2 green chillies well. Once done, mash the dal well and keep aside.

2. Heat oil in a pan. Add jeera seeds, ginger and garlic. Saute well until they are slightly browned. Add the onion and remaining two chopped green chillies and saute until the onions are cooked. Next, add the chopped tomatoes and cook well. Once they become soft and pulpy add the red chilli powder and garam masala and cook for a minute.

3. Add the spinach and salt now and saute well until the leaves wilt. About 5-7 minutes. Once the spinach is cooked well, add in the cooked dal and mix well. Bring to slow boil and let all the flavours blend.

4. In another pan, bring 2 tsp oil to heat. Add hing, mustard seeds to pop. Add the garlic cloves, dry red chilli and cook until the garlic pieces are browned. Dont let these over brown, that will result in a bitter taste in the dish. Burnt garlic is something that we dont want here :). Once done, pour this tempering into the dal and mix well. Let it sit like that for 10-15 minutes.

5. Serve hot with rotis or Jeera Rice.