dal palak (lentil and spinach)

dal is a kind of staple food us south Indians....i remember my grand mom makes a little bit of plain dal every day along with the other main menu for the day...simply cook the dal well n temper it with mustar seed, whole red chilli and curry leaves....and a dollop of ghee/butter to it makes it heavenly good :)

dal palak is just one of the different variations of dal we have at home...and a good way to incorporate veggies, especially spinach (spinach blends very well with the dal, no picky eater can separate them ;)

You'll need:

Palak/Spinach: a bunch ( washed and chopped)
Toor dal (yellow pigeon peas): 1 cup
onion: 1 medium (nicely chopped)
tomato:1 medium(chopped)
green chili: 2 nos( thinly sliced)
turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
chili powder: 1/2 tsp
jeera/cumin powder: 1/2 tsp


How to make:

Cook the dal well with enough salt and set it aside.
Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and green chilis and saute them well.
When onion turns golden brown, add the chopped tomato. Let it cook for a while.
When the tomatoes are cooked, add turmeric pwdr, red chili powder and cumin powder.
Give it a stir, and add the chopped spinach. Mix it all together and cook for a couple of min.
Add the cooked dal and blend it all together.
a dollop of ghee/butter gives an added flavor to it :)
goes well with white rice as well as rotis....

P.S: you can also use masoor dal(red lentils) or moong dal( green gram) instead of toor dal...