If you like spinach. And you like lentils. Then you are going to love this dish. It makes a great side dish to any Indian meal. It’s healthy. Vegan. Low fat. High fibre. Gluten free. Inexpensive. All the check boxes ticked. And somehow still delicious.
Tempering adds a flavour bomb to dal palak
Tempering is a fancy word for a little spicy sizzle to finish off any lentil curry. Some people call it a tarka. Or tarda even. Not sure why there’s so many names for the same thing. Doesn’t really matter though. What matters is it’s a great technique to learn. And to use every time you make dal. Any dal. Nothing to it really. Heat up some oil. Fry some spices to bloom the flavours. Mix it into your dal spinach mixture. Instant flavour bomb. Indian cooking magic.
This is dal palak done restaurant style
You can make this to order. 10 minutes top. Once you have your lentils cooked. In a restaurant they have a bunch of cooked masoor dal ready to go. They add some spinach to a portion of dal. Whip up the tempering and out the door it goes. It’s not quite the same at home but the idea is the same. Cook your lentils. Once they are ready it’s pretty much identical. Lentils. Spinach. Tempering. Dinner. Easy as that.
Amchoor gives it a bit of tang
Amchoor is my new secret weapon for lentil dishes. I use it in my over the top chana masala and I use it here. It’s dried mango powder. You can get it at any Indian grocer. You need to get some. It’s that good. It adds an earthy, slightly sour flavour. Hard to describe. Kind of like tamarind. But different. If you can’t get amchoor, tamarind will do in a pinch.
Spinach and lentils go great together
When I first started cooking Indian some time in the Bronze age I found a recipe for lentils and spinach in a Madhur Jaffrey cookbook. I made it and I loved it. Been playing with the flavour combinations since then. This version of dal palak is my current favourite. I love the combination of the whole cumin and mustard seeds with the ground spices. The earthiness of the lentils and amchoor tame the sharper taste of the spinach. It just comes together nicely. So I’m sticking with this one for a while. Dal palak. Lentil curry with spinach. Really tasty stuff.
