Dal Palak (Spinach Dal)
Updated: July 12, 2024, By Swasthi
Dal Palak is an Indian side dish made with spinach, lentils, spices and herbs. This traditional delicious, healthy and protein rich Spinach Dal is one of the many ways lentils are consumed in India. There is nothing more comforting than a bowl of hot spinach lentils served with rice, chapati, roti or bhakri.
Made with minimal amount of spices, this lemony Dal Palak is super flavorful, tasty, low-calorie, fiber and protein rich that suits everyone. It is gluten-free and vegan if you use oil. You can make this in a sauce pan or in a stovetop cooker or in the instant pot. This recipe also features a special tadka for extra flavor.
About Dal Palak
Dal Palak also known as Spinach Dal is a nutritious Indian curry where toor dal (split skinned pigeon peas) is cooked with fresh spinach, spices and herbs. It is a staple across India & is made in many ways. In fact everyone has their own way of cooking it.
Traditionally a lot of people would make Dal Palak simply by pressure cooking lentils, spices, onions, tomatoes and chopped spinach all at once in a pressure cooker and then just temper (tadka) it.
For some reason, my kids were never happy with the flavor of pressure cooked spinach with onions and tomatoes. Spinach being a delicate leafy green, cooks much faster than a lot of other greens and gets overcooked if you pressure cook it.
So I cook the lentils separately and then wilt the palak with the tempering ingredients. This method retains most of the buttery & sweet flavor of spinach. So you really don’t need a ton of ingredients to make it taste amazing.
In this post I share 2 recipes to make dal palak. I make the first recipe without tomatoes and the second one with tomatoes.
A lot of Indians avoid cooking tomatoes and spinach together due to the high oxalate content in both of them. So if you are on a low oxalate diet, always skip tomatoes in the dal palak.
At home, we believe moderate consumption of tomatoes with spinach is okay for healthy people so I do cook this combination but not very often. I use them together in this dal palak, sambar, palak paneer and a few more dishes.
Since I use tomato in the second recipe, I cut down the quantity of spinach. So both the ingredients, tomatoes and spinach are used in moderate quantities. This recipe is our absolute favorite, so delicious and super quick to make as there is no sautéing of onions or tomatoes and is also easy.
Ingredients & Substitutes
- Spinach/ Palak: Using fresh young/baby spinach is very important. Mature leaves impart metallic and bitter flavors while baby/young spinach give sweeter flavors. Remove the stalks and more mature leaves before using.
- Lentils: Traditionally toor dal aka split pigeon peas are used widely. However you can use any kind of skinned lentils for this recipe like red lentils (masoor dal), yellow mung lentils (moong dal) or Bengal gram (chana dal). I personally prefer to use 50/50 toor dal and moong dal or red lentils and moong dal. Mung dal produces a thicker and more flavorful dal. But do note that if you want to use chana dal, you need to soak them in hot water for at least an hour.
- Spices: You can use cumin seeds and mustard seeds (optional) to temper the dal palak. Remember not to use a lot of mustard, they can make your dal taste bitter. Ground spices like turmeric, red chili powder (can omit to use green chilies) and garam masala (optional) are used.
- Chilies: I love to use green chilies and dried red chilies for both heat and pungent flavors. Feel free to use what you have on hand. If you use green chilies, you may omit dried red chili and red chili powder or vice versa.
- Ginger and garlic : You may use both or any one of these fresh spices. They add a great aroma to your dal. Do not substitute with ground ginger or garlic because they don’t make substitutes.
- Hing/ asafetida is a gum resin and it adds a great flavor to the tempering. Most brands come with a small amount of gluten added to it. Look for a gluten-free version if you eat gluten-free or simply omit it.
- Fats – oil/ ghee : I prefer using ghee to temper my dal. It adds a more substantial flavor to your dish. But if you can’t eat you may use coconut oil, avocado oil or grapeseed oil.
More Dal recipes
Moong dal recipe
Chana dal
Masoor dal
Dal makhani
Dal fry recipe
Khichdi
Photo Guide
How to make Dal Palak without Tomatoes (Stepwise Photos)
You can find the instant pot instructions in the recipe card below.
1. Add half cup dal to a sauce pan or pressure cooker and rinse it well thrice. I use toor dal and moong dal in equal proportions. You can use any kind of dal you prefer including red lentils. The taste of dal palak enhances with the use of moong dal, so even a little is enough for that great taste. You can optionally add a deseeded and chopped small tomato.
If you do not own a cooker, you can soak the dal for about 15 mins to 1 hour to quicken the process. Bring the water to a rolling boil and reduce to medium, cook until soft and mushy. Add more hot water as you cook.
2. Pour 1¼ cups water to the cooker and secure the lid. Pressure cook on a medium heat for 2 whistles.
3. While the lentils cook, clean 100 grams spinach and rinse it well a few times. I usually spray some vinegar and sprinkle salt or baking soda over the leaves first. Leave them for 5 to 10 mins. Then rinse them off in a large pot a few times. This gets rid of all the pesticide residue and any bugs. Drain the leaves to a colander. When the water drains, chop them. You will need 2 cups chopped spinach. Also chop 1 to 2 green chilies and some ginger garlic. We need 1 tsp of the same.
4. When the pressure releases naturally, open the cooker and mash the dal slightly. You can skip mashing if you like to retain the same texture. It must be soft cooked and not remain al dente.
Tempering
5. Heat 1½ to 2 tablespoons ghee in a kadai/ pan. To keep the recipe vegan, you can use oil. When the ghee turns hot, add ¾ teaspoon cumin seeds and 1 to 2 broken dried red chilies (optional).
6. When the seeds begin to crackle, add 1 teaspoon chopped ginger garlic and 1 to 2 chopped green chilies. We are not using red chilli powder in this recipe so use enough green chilies for the heat. Saute just for a minute and add 1/8 teaspoon hing.
7. Add 2 cups chopped spinach/ palak. You can use more or less to suit your taste.
8. Saute for 3 to 4 mins on a medium heat until the spinach wilts and cooks through.
9. Add the cooked dal, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric and half teaspoon salt. Mix well.
10. Pour water if your dal is too thick, to bring the dal palak to a consistency. Cook until the dal begins to bubble. Palak doesn’t require long cooking, so a few minutes will be good enough. If you like to use amchur you can add it at this stage. I prefer lemon juice so I don’t add it.
11. When it reaches the desired consistency, stir in the crushed kasuri methi. Turn off the stove. Taste test and add more salt. When the dal palak cools down slightly, squeeze in lemon juice if you have not used amchur. Do not squeeze the lemon over boiling hot dal. If you have used oil for tempering, add a tbsp of ghee now.
Serve dal palak with rice or roti or chapati. If want you may make a special tadka following the steps below.
Special Tadka
12. On a medium flame, heat a tablespoon of ghee or oil in a small tadka pan. Add 1 sliced garlic and 1 broken red chili.
13. Add a large pinch of mustard seed and ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds.
14. When the mustard seeds begins to splutter, turn off the heat and add the curry leaves (pat dry first). Add hing and ¼ teaspoon red chili powder. Note it is very important to turn off the heat first.
15. Mix well.
Pour over the dal palak. This spinach dal is made using second recipe (below). But you can make the same tempering for both the recipes and this is not included in the recipe card.
For more palak recipes, do check
Palak paneer
Spinach curry
Easy palak paratha
Hara bhara kabab
Palak rice
Related Recipes
Recipe Card
Dal Palak
For best results follow the step-by-step photos above the recipe card
Ingredients (US cup = 240ml )
- ½ cup dal (lentils) ( I use ¼ cup toor dal/ split pigeon peas & ¼ cup moong dal/ yellow lentils)
- 1¼ cup water or as needed (1½ cups for Instant pot)
To Temper
- 1 small tomato (chopped, optional, read notes)
- 2 cups (100grams) palak (spinach fine chopped)
- 1½ to 2 tablespoons ghee or butter or oil
- ¾ teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 dried red chilli (broken, optional)
- 1 teaspoon ginger chopped (or 1 clove garlic or both)
- 1 to 2 green chilies (chopped, substitute ½ tsp chili powder)
- 1 pinch hing (asafoetida, optional)
- ⅛ to ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ teaspoon kasuri methi (optional, dried fenugreek leaves)
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice (or 1 tsp amchur / dry mango powder)
Instructions
- Add dal to a bowl and rinse it well thrice.
How to make Dal Palak (Stovetop)
- Option 1 – Cook dal in a pressure cooker: Transfer to a pressure cooker or a bowl. If using tomato, add it as well and pour water. Pressure cook for 2 whistles on a medium heat or in the instant pot for 10 minutes. When the pressure releases naturally, open the lid and mash or whisk dal well until slightly smooth.
- Option 2 – Cook in a pot: Add the rinsed dal & tomato (optional) to a sauce pan and pour water. Bring to a rolling boil on a high heat and reduce to medium. Cook until mushy, adding more hot water if required.
- On a medium flame, heat a pan with ghee or oil and add cumin seeds. When they begin to sizzle, add ginger, garlic, red and green chilies. Let them fry for a minute and add hing.
- Add spinach and saute for 3 to 4 mins on a medium heat, until the leaves wilt & soften. Transfer the cooked dal, salt and turmeric. Mix well and stir in more hot water if you want a slightly loose consistency (to serve with rice).
- Stir in kasuri methi, taste test and adjust salt. Sprinkle lemon juice and serve with rice or roti. If you want to make a special tadka, check the special tadka section in the post.
Instant Pot Spinach Dal
- Press SAUTE button on the Instant pot and pour ghee to the steel insert. Add cumin, dried red chilies and green chilies. When the cumin seeds splutter, add tomatoes (optional) and saute for 1 minute.
- Add dal, turmeric and salt. If you prefer to use chilli powder as a substitute to green chilies, add it now.
- Press CANCEL button. Pour 1½ cups water and deglaze with a spatula to release any bits of food stuck at the bottom. Optionally you can also place a trivet and keep your rice bowl over it & cover.
- Secure the Instant pot with the lid. Press PRESSURE COOK button (high pressure) and set the timer to 10 mins. Let the pressure release naturally for at least, 15 mins. Release the rest manually.
- Add the chopped spinach to the dal and give a good mix. Press SAUTE button and cook for 2 mins until the spinach wilts and softens.
- Press CANCEL and sprinkle kasuri methi (optional). Cover the IP until you serve. This helps spinach to cook completely with the residual heat in the IP.
- Taste test and add more salt if needed. When the spinach dal cools a bit, add lemon juice. Serve with rice or roti.
Notes
Video
NUTRITION INFO (estimation only)
© Swasthi’s Recipes
Recipe 2
How to make Spinach Dal with Tomatoes
I have made this in the instant pot but it can also be made in the traditional stovetop pressure cooker following the same recipe and method.
1. Pour 1 tablespoon oil or ghee to a pressure cooker (stovetop or instant pot). If using Instant pot, press the saute button and then pour oil. When the oil turns hot, add ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, 1 to 2 sliced garlic and 1 chopped green chili. (skip green chilli if you have kids at home).
2. Add ¾ cup chopped tomatoes, ½ cup chopped carrots or pumpkin (optional), ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ to 1/3 teaspoon red chilli powder, 1/8 teaspoon turmeric.
3. Saute for 1 minute.
4. Add half cup rinsed dal. Here I used 1/4 cup toor dal and 1/4 cup masoor dal. You can use just toor dal too or just masoor dal or a combination of any.
5. Pour 1 ½ cups water and give a good mix. Close the pressure cooker and cook on a medium heat for 3 whistles. If using Instant pot, Press cancel button, close the lid, position the steam release handle to sealing and press pressure cook button. Set the timer to 9 to 10 minutes. You can also cook your rice in the same IP by placing the rice bowl over a long legged trivet.
6. While the dal cooks, clean, rinse and chop the spinach. You will need about 1.5 cups chopped palak. When the pressure drops, open the pressure cooker lid and give a stir.
7. Add the chopped spinach and mix. Turn on the stove heat to medium and cook until the palak wilts. This just takes a few minutes. If using Instant pot, press the saute button and cook for 2 to 3 mins.
8. When you see the palak has wilted completely, add crushed kasuri methi and garam masala (optional). Taste test and add more salt if required.
9. Turn off and keep the cooker covered with the lid so the palak cooks completely with the residual heat. If you want you may pour 1 to 2 tsps of ghee over the hot dal or do a tadka following my moong dal recipe. Squeeze some lemon juice over dal palak and serve hot with rice or roti.
About Swasthi
Iโm Swasthi Shreekanth, the recipe developer, food photographer & food writer behind Swasthi’s Recipes. My aim is to help you cook great Indian food with my time-tested recipes. After 2 decades of experience in practical Indian cooking I started this blog to help people cook better & more often at home. Whether you are a novice or an experienced cook I am sure Swasthiโs Recipes will assist you to enhance your cooking skills. More about me
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Comments
We harvested our first batch of homegrown palak and this recipe was a great one to try. Turned out delicious with only a few ingredients and little effort.
If you ever publish a cookbook please let me know! I will be the first one to purchase it. Your recipes are a big hit with my family. Years ago I was intimidated to cook but you make everything look so simple. I have made a large batch of ghee today following your recipe. My neighbor generously shared fresh curry which I added to the ghee. They got fried nicely and I stored them in a glass bottle to use up the next few weeks. The ghee has gotten a great curry leaf flavor. I also made this dal palak with the ghee and my house smells amazing. Tonight I will be making your curry leaf powder to use up the bulk of leaves. Thank you for the amazing recipes.
Thank you so much Gina for the kind words. So happy to read this! Hope you like the curry leaf powder too.
Made this dal palak again. This time I added a can of chickpeas and it was amazing. The curry leaves powder is fantastic and I shared it with a Indian friend. She loved it too and asked for the recipe immediately. Thank you for the lovely recipes.
Made this in the Instant pot and it came out delicious. I used stinging nettle and a little lemon zest. Tasty!
Thank you Jenny. So glad you like it
So fast, easy and healthy recipe. Everyone loved it
Thank you. It came out delicious and even my twin toddlers enjoyed it. I followed the recipe as written but omitted the green chilies. It was not hot at all. My boys ate it with a sprinkle of lemon juice and little ghee. To spice it up for the rest of us in the family, I made the spicy tadka. Fantastic and healthy meal!
That’s nice to know Moulika. Thank you for sharing back!
Swasthi,
Would this recipe work with frozen chard? How much would you use? TIA
Hi Jyothi,
Yes you can use it. This is a small recipe for 2 servings. You may use 2 to 3 ounces frozen.
Oh my god! This is so healthy and comforting! I had some gram dal left after making shami kebab. I used that to make the dal palak and it turned out amazing. I threw a shallot and a small roma tomato prior to adding the spinach. Thank you.
We have made many of your recipes and they have become staples in our home! It is the spinach season now and our farmers market is filled with leafy green vegetables. These dishes are absolutely soul-soothing and so easy to make. We did not have serrano peppers or any kind of chilies so used chili flakes and black pepper in the tempering. It turned out amazing!
Thanks for trying Ruby. So happy to read that!
I am so grateful I came across your website and very excited to try out more recipes. Thank you for the amazing and doable recipes. I have made you dal palak and south Indian stir fried carrots with shredded coconut. Both turned out delicious.
Hi there,
Can I use curry powder? I don’t have many ingredients mentioned in this recipe like turmeric, cumin seeds, kasuri, chili hing. I only have lentils spinach lemon garlic butter and curry powder. I have cooked delicious Indian curries before using only curry powder. Can’t I do the same here? Please advice
Hi Andrea,
Curry powder is a blend of various spices like mustard, fenugreek, cumin, coriander, chili and few others. I guess it should work the same way like your other curries. You may give it a try but it will have a different flavor profile from what this recipe produces. It still should taste good. Give it a try and see how it goes for you.
Thank you for the timely reply. I made it and it tasted delicious. I had chili flakes which I added to the melted butter and that gave a nice heat to the dish. I live by myself so stored the leftovers for another meal. I am going to make this again when I have all the ingredients.
This looks yum! Will the recipe work with frozen spinach or kale? Any advice on how much to use for 1 cup dal. Thanks for your reply
Thanks Cara,
Use 3 to 4 ounces of frozen spinach for 1 cup dal. We haven’t tried with frozen kale. Hope you get to try!
First time made dal palak with tomatoes and carrot. It turned out delicious
Glad you like it Gayatri
Can you freeze this dal palak? How would you do that and what is the ideal way to reheat?
Hi Molly,
I don’t recommend freezing dal palak made with frozen spinach. You can freeze If you are using fresh greens. To retain the best flavors, cool down immediately and transfer to freezer safe glass containers. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating on the stovetop or in the instant pot (pressure cooker mode). If it is too thick you may add a splash of water while you reheat. I would add a fresh tadka before serving. Hope this helps
Simply ๐
Thanks Keerthana
Would this recipe work with kale and radish greens? I have a glut of homegrown kale and radish greens to use up.
Yes you can use baby kale. Radish greens may be too strong for this unless they are young.
Thanks for your fast reply Swasthi. This dal palak was a blast and I have never made any lentil dish so delicious. I loved it so much. My husband says it is incredibly hearty and comforting over rice. I threw in some onions and roma tomatoes before adding the baby kale and radish greens. Also I added some roasted pepper flakes for heat because I did not have chilies. My husband added some tamarind /asam jawa to his portion. This recipe is very adaptable because I used red lentils and half can of chickpeas. Next time I want to make the recipe exactly with fenugreek and other ingredients.
Glad to know Raamee. Love the way you both made it! Thank you for sharing your ideas, they may help others
Your Indian recipes are amazing and very easy to try out. We have tried many from here and my family loves them. I made this last night to use up the Trader Joeโs steamed lentils. It turned out delicious and was quick enough because I used a bag of prewashed spinach. The only change was to add a tablespoon of tomato paste. It tasted great! Thank you and continue doing what you have been!
Your words a pure joy to read Catherine. Thanks a lot for your kind words. Sure will continue to share
I followed the recipe and it turned out better than the local restaurants. Next time going to add little coconut milk to thin down the dal.
Glad you like it Lisa. Thanks for sharing back
What a lovely dish! I used 50/50 collards and spinach. I would love to know the tadka you made for the second recipe. That looks delish! Thanks for the reply
That sounds so good! Glad you like it Nancy. I have the tadka in this post – moong dal recipe.
A solid 10 stars on this recipe. I used homegrown spinach, fenugreek and lots of lemon juice. I live by myself so stored the leftovers for another meal. Your recipes are so simple and doable. Thank you for everything you post
Jyothi, that’s really nice to use homegrown greens. Thanks for trying out
Iโve made this recipe for over 2 years, and just wanted to let you know it is very delicious, nourishing and healthy. During the colder days I use frozen spinach, though made with fresh this time. You have made my vegan journey so much easier. Thank you
That’s a huge appreciation Lucy. Thank you so much for writing.
Swasthiโs delicious dal palak and chicken tikka were a big hit with our family last evening! We prepared this dal, using 2 anaheim peppers which gave a small amount of heat and it was just the right amount for our gals. Even your tikka masala was delicious and my son reserved the leftover for another meal. I will definitely be making them again!