Daal with Spinach, Daal Saag or Daal Palak – whatever you want to call it…now how do we get a healthier dish that this? Your Spinach (iron and fiber) and Daal (protein) all rolled into one! There are so many varieties of Daal and so many different ways to make them. Daal is a staple in most Indian households and pretty much had on a daily basis. Try this recipe for ”Daal with Spinach” with Chapatis, Parathas or Rice and you have a nutritionally complete meal. For a variation, switch the Toor Daal for Mung Daal or Channa Daal and you will be surprised how different and delicious they taste.
Ingredients:
Toor Daal (Dried Split Pigeon Peas) - 1/2 cup Spinach – 1/2 bunch, washed and chopped Onion – 1/4 med, finely chopped Tomato – 1/2 med, 1″ cubes Turmeric Powder – 1/4 tsp Water - 2 cups Oil - 1 tbsp Salt - to taste Curry Leaves – few leaves Mustard Seeds – 1/2 tsp Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp Asofoetida - pinch Dry Red Chili – 1, optional Garlic – 2, crushed Kasturi/Kasoori Methi – 1 tbsp, optional Red Chili Powder – to taste Tamarind Paste - 1/4 tsp
Method:
Wash and soak the Toor Daal for half hour.
Drain the water from the Toor Daal and pressure-cook it with 2 cups fresh Water, Turmeric Powder and Tomatoes.
Give it 2 whistles and take it off the flame.
In a separate pan, heat Oil.
Once Oil is hot, add the Mustard Seeds and allow them to pop.
Add Cumin Seeds and let them sizzle.
Add the following in this order and keep mixing – Asofoetida, Dry Red Chili, Methi Leaves, Curry Leaves, Garlic and Onions.
Mix well and cook till the Onions start to turn golden brown.
Before you ask a question, we request you to scan the comments section to see if your question has been answered before. This will help reduce duplicate questions and the need to repeat the answers. We appreciate your support on this.
This site is really wonderful. I’ve been looking over Indian cook books at the local bookstores ever since the only Indian restaurant in our area closed down. Yet in all that time I never built up enough courage to buy a book and give cooking Indian a try because I was always nervous to try and simply follow a book’s instructions. But after watching this video clip I’m definitely going to go out and try cooking now! Thank you so much for putting this together.
I boil the spinach with the daal and then do seasoning. It saves time and cooking resources. Also I think the nutrients are lost if spinach is cooked (just a wild guess).
Hi Sonia,
We are cooking in our own kitchen and for ourselves so we don’t see the need to wear gloves. Our site is all about homestyle cooking and not many people wear gloves at home.
Anuja, I have to agree with you about the gloves!! Can’t imagine wearing gloves for home cooking, even if I’m entertaining! I don’t see people on food network wearing gloves either.
Anuja, I have to agree with you about the gloves!! Can’t imagine wearing gloves for home cooking, even if I’m entertaining! I don’t see people on food network wearing gloves either.
Oh, and I love spinach dal! I’ve never tried it with toor dal but usually make it with mung dal. Will try it soon.
Hi there, I’m new to your site and I noticed that a lot of these recipes call for a pressure cooker. What if you don’t have one? Can you just cook the daal in a pot?
Also, what would you recommend to have on hand – in a well stocked indian pantry so that you can make a lot of these recipes without having to go out to the grocery store and buy things every day?
We do use the pressure cooker a lot as it cuts the cooking time and is also more energy efficient. You can cook these daals in a pot/pan as well, but it will take longer. We would reccomend investing in a cooker if you plan to make daals more often.
Also, we have a couple of videos on ‘Stocking the Pantry’, do check them out when you get a chance:
was wondering what kind of american store bought pressure cooker you recommend? i have one from india but, am do for new and larger one. i like the ones with the old fashion whistle but, am open to your suggestion.
thanks,
sneha
Most of the American store bought pressure cookers do not have the whistle system. You have to time it and cook accordingly…a little hard in the begining but then you get used to it (just get used to putting on the timer everytime you use it)
The ones I have are ‘Tarmontina’ and ‘Fagor’ and they both work similarly and are very good.
My suggestion would be that if you do have an option of getting them at the Indian store here or from India, that would be my first choice. Just make sure that the one that you buy is a stainless steel (better for health).
Hey guys,
Awesome instructions. I have been making dhaal for a long time, but your tip of adding tomatoes with the daal in the pressure cooker is great! I will use it in other recipes too.
Also, your text instructions are missing the Asofoetida part (but not your video).
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
My mom never used pressure cookers as she was afraid of them, so I never learned to use one. I am clueless as how to cook with one.(don’t want it to blow up!) Do you think you could do a short video on the basics of pressure cookers for all of us newbies out there?
I love all your recipes. They are so simple and easy to follow. I have tried most of them and they have turned out fabulous every single time. I have been cooking for 2 years now and thanks to your website, I enjoy it.
Before you ask a question, we request you to scan the comments section to see if your question has been answered before. This will help reduce duplicate questions and the need to repeat the answers. We appreciate your support on this.
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September 13th, 2007 at 4:47 pm
hello hetal n anuja ,i like ur recipes a lot,i think this spinach daal is really delicious after cooking so i will try this surely,reg bye tc
[Reply]
September 14th, 2007 at 4:35 am
That daal spinach looks really appetizing. It’s a *favourite* in our house.
[Reply]
December 19th, 2007 at 3:11 am
This site is really wonderful. I’ve been looking over Indian cook books at the local bookstores ever since the only Indian restaurant in our area closed down. Yet in all that time I never built up enough courage to buy a book and give cooking Indian a try because I was always nervous to try and simply follow a book’s instructions. But after watching this video clip I’m definitely going to go out and try cooking now! Thank you so much for putting this together.
Mike
[Reply]
February 7th, 2008 at 3:54 am
Hey Guys,
I boil the spinach with the daal and then do seasoning. It saves time and cooking resources. Also I think the nutrients are lost if spinach is cooked (just a wild guess).
I will try your way too and see it tastes better.
Thanks!
[Reply]
March 5th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Love this recipe!
[Reply]
April 17th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
wear gloves when u cook
[Reply]
May 6th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Hi Sonia,
We are cooking in our own kitchen and for ourselves so we don’t see the need to wear gloves. Our site is all about homestyle cooking and not many people wear gloves at home.
[Reply]
June 30th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Anuja, I have to agree with you about the gloves!! Can’t imagine wearing gloves for home cooking, even if I’m entertaining! I don’t see people on food network wearing gloves either.
[Reply]
June 30th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Anuja, I have to agree with you about the gloves!! Can’t imagine wearing gloves for home cooking, even if I’m entertaining! I don’t see people on food network wearing gloves either.
Oh, and I love spinach dal! I’ve never tried it with toor dal but usually make it with mung dal. Will try it soon.
[Reply]
June 30th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Oh, and I love spinach dal! I’ve never tried it with toor dal but usually make it with mung dal. Will try it soon.
I haven’t tried putting curry leaves or kasuri methi either. thanks for the idea!
[Reply]
August 26th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Can I use frozen spinach for this ?
[Reply]
August 26th, 2008 at 10:33 pm
Hi Anuja (btw, nice name),
Yes, you can use frozen spinach, just thaw it out and add it in at the same time. It tastes just as good.
[Reply]
August 30th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Yes, I noticed the name thing. Thanks for noticing.
We should touch base offline… see who got names first
[Reply]
October 6th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Hi there, I’m new to your site and I noticed that a lot of these recipes call for a pressure cooker. What if you don’t have one? Can you just cook the daal in a pot?
Also, what would you recommend to have on hand – in a well stocked indian pantry so that you can make a lot of these recipes without having to go out to the grocery store and buy things every day?
[Reply]
October 6th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Hi Amina,
Welcome to ShowMeTheCurry.com!
We do use the pressure cooker a lot as it cuts the cooking time and is also more energy efficient. You can cook these daals in a pot/pan as well, but it will take longer. We would reccomend investing in a cooker if you plan to make daals more often.
Also, we have a couple of videos on ‘Stocking the Pantry’, do check them out when you get a chance:
http://showmethecurry.com/2007/06/11/stocking-your-pantry-for-indian-cooking-101-part-1/
http://showmethecurry.com/2007/06/18/stocking-your-pantry-for-indian-cooking-101-part-2/
[Reply]
October 18th, 2008 at 1:22 am
was wondering what kind of american store bought pressure cooker you recommend? i have one from india but, am do for new and larger one. i like the ones with the old fashion whistle but, am open to your suggestion.
thanks,
sneha
[Reply]
October 22nd, 2008 at 2:22 am
Hi Sneha,
Most of the American store bought pressure cookers do not have the whistle system. You have to time it and cook accordingly…a little hard in the begining but then you get used to it (just get used to putting on the timer everytime you use it)
The ones I have are ‘Tarmontina’ and ‘Fagor’ and they both work similarly and are very good.
My suggestion would be that if you do have an option of getting them at the Indian store here or from India, that would be my first choice. Just make sure that the one that you buy is a stainless steel (better for health).
[Reply]
December 21st, 2008 at 3:10 am
Hey guys,
Awesome instructions. I have been making dhaal for a long time, but your tip of adding tomatoes with the daal in the pressure cooker is great! I will use it in other recipes too.
Also, your text instructions are missing the Asofoetida part (but not your video).
madan
[Reply]
February 15th, 2009 at 3:07 pm
hi anuja,hetal,
is there any substitute for methi leaves?
[Reply]
February 16th, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hi Helloall,
There really is not any substitute for methi leaves. Methi seeds are quite a bit more bitter so they wouldn’t work. You could just leave it out.
[Reply]
March 20th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Hi Hetal and Anuja,
My mom never used pressure cookers as she was afraid of them, so I never learned to use one. I am clueless as how to cook with one.(don’t want it to blow up!) Do you think you could do a short video on the basics of pressure cookers for all of us newbies out there?
[Reply]
March 20th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Judy, that is an excellent idea. We will definately consider it:)
[Reply]
October 13th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Hi Hetal & Anuja,
I love all your recipes. They are so simple and easy to follow. I have tried most of them and they have turned out fabulous every single time. I have been cooking for 2 years now and thanks to your website, I enjoy it.
You guys rock!
- Meg
[Reply]