Dal palak or spinach dal: easy and yummy mixed lentils with spinach and green mangoes. Served over cumin rice, it makes for a healthy and complete meal that will have you licking your fingers in delight! A simple vegan dal made quickly in the instant pot.
Love Indian lentils? Do try these yummy dal recipes: instant pot chana dal, whole masoor dal, moong dal, and maash dal.
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Why this recipe works
The humble dal is a staple of Indian food but is usually served as a side to other meat or vegetable dishes. But when you cook it with meat or vegetables, it gets transformed into something quite spectacular in taste. Dal palak is just such a dish. It tastes so good with steamed rice!
I have added one more ingredient to this spinach dal besides the usual onion, ginger, garlic and spices. Green mangoes. Green mangoes give this spinach dal a unique, very pleasing piquancy and after adding them once, on a whim, I always add them now.
Here's the story if you're interested. One time, while making dal palak, I found that I had run out of fresh tomatoes which I added to this dal as a matter of course. Instead I saw some green mangoes languishing at the back of the crisper, bought some time back for making mango chutney. They were just starting to turn yellow so I had to do something about them quickly. The chutney never got made unfortunately, but I used the mangoes for my dal and spinach dal was never quite the same again!
Of course, if you can't find green mangoes, that's totally fine. Add some. chopped tomatoes instead.
Check out dal fry and dal makhani too if you like the idea of soupy lentils cooked in the Indian style.
Ingredients
Note: Exact amounts are mentioned in the recipe card further down in the post.
- Mixed lentils - red lentils (masoor dal), yellow lentils (mung dal), and split chickpea lentils (chana dal)
- Spinach - I buy pre-washed baby spinach for convenience. For this recipe, I chopped it roughly but if you're short of time, you can skip chopping it too and dunk it straight in the dal.
- Onion masala - onion, ginger, garlic and green mango all pureed together makes this masala.
- Ground Spices - Kashmiri chilli, coriander, turmeric and garam masala powder go into the dal.
- Sea salt, to taste
Ingredients for tempering the dal
- Cooking oil or ghee - Use the cooking oil of your choice if you're making vegan dal palak. If that is not a concern, you can use ghee which adds a pleasing aroma and richness to the dal.
- Onions, sliced
- Cumin seeds
- Green chillies
Instructions
Preparation
- Take 1 cup chana dal, ½ cup masoor dal and ½ cup mung dal in a bowl and rinse them together until the water runs clear. Soak in 4-5 cups water.
- Put the onion, ginger, garlic and mango (peeled and chopped) in a blender along with half a cup water and blend to a smooth puree. The onion masala is ready.
- Chop the spinach roughly (or not). If you're using pre-washed baby spinach, there really is not need to chop it if you don't want to. It wilts very easily in the hot dal.
- Slice the onion and green chillies for tempering the dal. This is the last step and you can do it as the dal is cooking in the instant pot.
Cooking
- Add 2 tablespoons oil to the inner steel insert and when it is hot, add the the onion masala, powdered spices and salt. Add a few tablespoons water if required, mix well and cover with a lid to avoid splattering. Cook this masala for 8-10 minutes. The masala should lose its rawness and turn shiny.
- Add the soaked lentils along with the water and close the lid. Pressure cook the lentils on high for 15 minutes and do a pressure release after 10 minutes.
- Switch the instant pot to sauté and add the spinach. Cook for 1-2 minutes only.
Tempering
- Heat cooking oil or ghee in a small frypan, add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. Add the cumin and green chillies and pour carefully over the hot dal. Serve with steamed rice.
Top tips
1. Raw mango is available in Indian and Pakistani stores, but if you don't want to go to the trouble of visiting a store, add one big chopped tomato to the dal instead. Add it just before pressure cooking the lentils in the instant pot.
2. Kashmiri chilli powder is a mild variety of red chilli and is a vibrant, natural red colour. I use because it is less hot than cayenne. But if cayenne is all you have, go ahead and use that by all means. Just use a little less of it if you don't want a super-hot dal.
3. On the same note as above, use fewer green chillies while tempering the dal if spicy dal is not your thing. I use the small Thai green chillies as they add a lot of flavour too besides heat.
4. If the dal is too thick after opening the pot, add 1 cup plain water and mix well. When you add the spinach and cook it, the dal will thicken slightly again. This is okay.
More Indian vegan recipes
📖 Recipe
Dal Palak (Instant Pot Spinach Dal)
Equipment
- 6-quart Instant Pot Duo
Ingredients
- ½ cup red lentils masoor dal
- ½ cup yellow lentils mung dal
- 1 cup split chickpea lentils chana dal
- 2 tablespoon oil
- 1 small onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- ½ " piece ginger
- 1 small raw mango
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1.5 teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
- 8 oz or 5 cups baby spinach
- sea salt to taste
For tempering
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- ½ small onion sliced thinly
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2-3 green chillies
Instructions
Preparation
- Take the chana dal, masoor dal and mung dal in a bowl and rinse them together until the water runs clear. Soak in 4-5 cups water.
- Peel and chop the onion, ginger, garlic and mango roughly and put in a blender along with half a cup water. Blend to a smooth puree. The onion masala is ready.
- Chop the spinach roughly. If you're using pre-washed baby spinach, you can skip this step too. Spinach wilts very easily in the hot dal.
- Slice the onion and green chillies for tempering the dal. This is the last step and you can do it as the dal is cooking in the instant pot.
Cooking
- Turn the instant pot to sauté and add 2 tablespoon oil to the inner steel insert. When it is hot, add the onion masala, the powdered spices (chilli, coriander, turmeric and garam masala), and salt. Add a few tablespoons water, mix well and cover with a lid. Simmer this masala for 8-10 minutes. Stir once or twice to make sure the masala is not sticking to the bottom. Once it's done, the masala should be thick and shiny.
- Add the soaked lentils along with all the water and close the lid. Make sure the pressure release handle is on 'sealing', press the pressure cooking button on high and set the timer to 15 minutes. Once the timer beeps, release the pressure after 10 minutes.
- Open the pot and switch the instant pot to sauté (normal). Mix the dal well with a spoon, add the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes only.
- Temper the dal: Heat 2 tablespoon cooking oil or ghee in a small frypan, add the sliced onions and fry until golden brown. Add the cumin and green chillies and pour carefully over the hot dal. Serve with plain, steamed rice or cumin rice.
Notes
- Substitute raw mango with one big tomato (chopped) and the Kashmiri chilli powder with regular ground cayenne if you can't get your hands on these ingredients.
- Use fewer green chillies if you don't like spicy dal.
- Add 1 cup plain water to the lentils if they are too thick after opening the pot and mix well.
Nutrition
Check out this collection of 30+ instant pot Indian vegetarian recipes on the blog if you want more:)
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