Methi Palak Dal is a delicious combination of greens and lentils which come together to create magic! A super comfort food option!
Everyone has a comfort food, isn’t it? The food you crave when you have nothing else to do and when you are feeling a bit down, or when may be your mood is not great or may be the health is not the best! For N, its rasam-rice and for me its dal roti! Seriously when nothing works, dal-roti does magic for me. This methi palak dal is a favorite for me!
I love experimenting with dal, mixing various dals together, adding some veggies to it. The variations give dal a face lift and make it an all new dish which is yummy and healthy too.
So when after marriage I first made this dal which is the favorite of my mil too, I fell in love with it. A dal which has all my favorite elements – dal, methi and palak. But unfortunately toor dal doesn’t suit me too much these days. It gives me terrible gas so I came up with my own version of this dal which now everyone in the house enjoys totally.
I think I have loads of dal recipes on the blog and it is mainly because I do love dals. I usually have some dal or the other cooked in my fridge. So all it takes for me is to quickly decide what vegetables I want to put in my dal and then make some delicious dal from it.
Dal is such an integral part of our Indian diet. I think it is mainly because loads of Indians don’t eat non-vegetarian food. This means that dal helped to provide the proteins necessary for the body. Of course, for me, dal is an integral part of my diet. And greens, of course, are so essential any way. So if you are looking for a really healthy recipe, definitely try this dal.
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- 1 cup channa dal (use toor dal if you want to)
- 2 bunches methi fresh (fengureek)
- 3 bunches palak fresh (spinach)
- 8 - 10 shallots or baby onions
- 1 tomato large chopped
- 1 tsp urad dal
- 1 tsp channa dal
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp jeera seeds
- 2 - 3 green chillies
- 2 - 3 chillies dry (red)
- 1 tamarind medium sized ball
- 7 - 8 curry leaves
- 1 tsp sambhar powder optional
- 1 tsp corriander powder
- 1/2 tsp garam masala powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
Ingredients
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- Wash and chop methi and palak leaves finely.
- Boil together with dal, chopped tomato, slit green chillies, salt and turmeric in a pressure cooker.
- Let the steam escape.
- Soak tamarind in warm water.
- Heat oil in a pan and add mustard jeera seeds to it.
- After they turn brown and start spluttering add the urad dal, channa dal, curry leaves and dry red chillies.
- Fry for 2-3 minutes till the dal browns a little.
- Add onions to the same and fry them till golden brown.
- Add all dry masalas, fry for another minute.
- Add the dal, mash a bit along with the tamarind water.
- Let it simmer for about 5 minutes or so.
- Serve hot with rotis or rice
Swaram says
June 25, 2010 at 11:11 amFirst?
Meira says
June 25, 2010 at 11:12 amooooo..methi is a gult favourite or what? My in laws love it too. My mil also uses kasoori methi in dal and that really enhances the taste too.
Meira says
June 25, 2010 at 11:12 amdamn! and here I wasted time discussing mils…only to lose my chance at coming first!
Swaram says
June 25, 2010 at 11:13 amI love dal with methi and palak too 🙂 Esp. gng by the no. of green leaves we get in Andhra, I luv making all sorts of Dals with them 🙂 🙂
Swaram says
June 25, 2010 at 11:15 amGults love anything to do with Pappus [Dal] and green leaves I think no 😉
But seriously, kudos to the varieties of Dal that they have!
Swaram says
June 25, 2010 at 11:16 amHuh? Where 😛 😛
Pixie says
June 25, 2010 at 12:27 pmme likes too! 😀
Trish says
June 25, 2010 at 8:05 pmNiceeeeeeeee..soundss yumm..makes me think of the daal palak.
Writerzblock says
June 26, 2010 at 2:50 amLooks yum and sounds very healthy too!!
Munchkin's Mom says
June 27, 2010 at 7:41 pmThis looks delish..i make a similar palak sambar with only toor dal though…almost all ingredients are the same. This along with fried fish and rice is a staple sunday afternoon ,meal at our place….next week i’ll try this mixed dal version of yours…
umsreflections says
June 28, 2010 at 2:44 pmLooks delicious…actually, its ur pictures which tempt me more…
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:05 pmROFL… see there is nothing one ever got by discussing mil’s i am telling u 😉
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:06 pmyeah there are so many of them no… each gives a different taste to the dal but I specially love this one
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:08 pmthere swaram said it
I can swear upon what she is saying… they make dal’s in so many varities but i have just one problem with the whole gults dal they only seem to be using Toor dal at best in one or two cases channa dal… there is a whole variety of dals available in the market,. why not use them?
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:08 pmit does taste like that but with a twist
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:09 pmoh man i am almost imagining fried fish next to this dal and rice… brilliant this is what we will have next sunday for lunch 😉
monikamanchanda says
June 28, 2010 at 6:10 pmaaah thank u thank u
Reema says
July 7, 2010 at 12:22 ammy comfort food is chilly chicken 🙂
dips says
August 25, 2010 at 11:28 amHi there!
Just found your blog yesterday while blog hopping and got hooked.
My usual comfort food is palak dal or kasuri methi dal, but when I read this recipe of yours I had to try it and loved it so much that now it takes the #1 spot on my comfort food list 🙂
I loved the palak-methi flavor along with the hint of sambhar powder.
Thanks for the recipe.