If you ask any South Asian about their favorite comfort food, I bet you 9/10 times it will be a type of daal. Daal is such a stable in a variety of South Asian cuisines, and for good reason. It’s yummy, relatively healthy, and comforting. In this blog post, I’ll walk through a super easy and quick recipe for an elevated take on my favorite daal recipe: this is an easy spinach daal recipe.
Jump to RecipeIntroduction
This recipe is great when you want a quick cleanup as well as you can do it in one pot! Indian recipes are often made with ratios. The best way to make the recipe is by using the ratios below when scaling or taking back.
1:4 ratio of dry lentils to water.
1:1:1: 1 ratio of turmeric, garam masala, coriander powder, cumin seeds. Do ¼ for the salt and chili powder and add more to taste.
Equipment
- Pressure cooker or instant pot
- Pan (if using cumin seeds)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yellow daal (split moong daal)
- 4 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- ½ medium yellow Onion
- 1 medium Tomato
- 2-3 cloves of Garlic
- Ginger to your desired taste
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds or ground cumin
- Oil
- ½ bag Spinach, chopped
- Tamarind or mango powder if desired
- Cilantro if it doesn’t taste like soap for you
- Pinch of Asafetida (if you feel like being fancy)
The Quick Steps
- Wash your daal and let sit
- In the meantime, cut and sauté your garlic, ginger, tomato, and onion. Add in the mango powder or tamarind if using.
- Add in the turmeric, salt, garam masala, chili powder, coriander powder, ground cumin (in using), and chopped spinach
- Add in your water and pressure cook for the desired time.
- Cook your cumin seeds in a little oil and add it in once the daal is done cooking
Instructions
- Wash your lentils until the water runs clear.
- Let the lentils soak while you work on the rest.
- In your pressure cooker or instant pot, add some oil.
- Add in ginger, garlic, onion, and tomato. Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent and it’s becoming a mush.
- Add in your tamarind paste or amchur if using. Mix.
- Add in your turmeric, garam masala, salt, chili powder, and coriander powder. Add in cumin powder if using. Sauté for about 30 seconds to let flavors combine.
- Add in chopped spinach.
- Add in the water and set to pressure cook. In the instant pot, I do 16 minutes on high.
- When there is about 2 minutes left of cooking, heat oil in a small pan and add 2-3 cumin seeds.
- When you hear popping, add in the rest and take off the heat.
- If you are using asafetida, add this when you are adding the rest of the cumin seeds.
- Add this to the cooked daal along with fresh cilantro if using.
- You’re done!
Easy Spinach Daal
Equipment
- 1 Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot
- 1 pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup Yellow daal split moong daal
- 4 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Garam masala
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- ¼ teaspoon Chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- ½ medium yellow Onion
- 1 medium Tomato
- 2-3 cloves of Garlic
- Ginger to your desired taste
- 1 teaspoon Cumin seeds or ground cumin
- Oil
- ½ bag Spinach chopped
- Tamarid or mango powder if desired
- Cilantro if it doesn’t taste like soap for you
- Pinch of Asafetida if you feel like being fancy
Instructions
- Wash your lentils until water runs clear.
- Let the lentils soak while you work on the rest.
- In your pressure cooker or instant pot, add some oil.
- Add in ginger, garlic, onion, and tomato. Sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onions are translucent and it’s becoming a mush.
- Add in your tamarind paste or amchur if using. Mix.
- Add in your turmeric, garam masala, salt, chili powder, and coriander powder. Add in cumin powder if using. Sauté for about 30 seconds to let flavors combine.
- Add in chopped spinach.
- Add in the water and set to pressure cook. In the instant pot I do 16 minutes on high.
- When there is about 2 minutes left of cooking, heat oil in a small pan and add 2-3 cumin seeds. When you hear popping, add in the rest and take off the heat.
- If you are using asafetida, add this when you are adding the rest of the cumin seeds.
- Add this to the cooked daal along with fresh cilantro if using.
- You’re done!
With love,
Aditi <3
Aditi Rani – Figuring Out Life in Your Twenties
*Disclaimer: This is not professional advice. Some links are affiliate. By clicking and/or purchasing, I may receive a commission. It does not alter the price or change your buyer experience.