Dal Palak (Instant Pot Spinach Dal)

Dal palak or spinach dal: easy and yummy mixed lentils with spinach and green mangoes. Served with 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.

Course Side

Cuisine Indian

Keyword dal palak, Indian dal, lentils, spinach dal

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Total Time 40

Servings

Calories 182.2kcal

Author Saima Zaidi

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

US Customary - Metric

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