Palak Chana Dal Easy Healthy Spinach Dal Recipe

This Palak Chana Dal Recipe is a one-pot Spinach Recipe made super easy for busy you. A popular recipe from North India, this Spinach Chana Dal is a total comfort meal when teamed with jeera rice, Paratha or Chapati.

Leafy greens like Spinach are best eaten in winter season and I love including these green beauties in everyday meal. Dal Palak is a traditional winter recipe for Indians. It is a great way of combining the goodness of spinach with Bengal gram dal or Chana dal. Flavorful, mildly spicy, and fragrant, the palak dal recipe was a super hit in the family and the best thing is that it can easily be made in a stovetop pressure cooker or an instant pot. This recipe uses sorted fresh spinach leaves. One may chop them finely or ground them as a paste. The kids are picky eaters when it comes to winter greens. I prefer using the paste of spinach leaves made with fresh sorted leaves, washed and rinsed. This helps me create a comforting lentil soup like homely palak chana and topping it with the desi-ghee Mirch tempering enhances its taste. Perfect for a complete meal on a busy weekday! More Spinach Recipes from my collection include Spinach Paneer (Palak Paneer) Curry, Roasted Pumpkin Spinach Salad, Indian Spinach Chickpea Curry (Chana Saag), Saag Paneer.

Why Would You Love This Dal Palak Recipe?

Super Healthy recipe from Indian Cuisine. Low in carbs and Rich in Protein, calcium, Iron, and Vitamin A. Easily convertible to Vegan. One-pot of Palak Chana. Gluten-Free. Perfect for Picky eaters. This is the most delicious recipe of Spinach Lentil Curry!

Ingredients

Fresh Palak / Spinach leaves- This recipe uses fresh spinach leaves. They are sorted, rinsed, and blended to make a paste, which is added while pressure cooking the yellow lentils. You may choose to chop them in small and add them without blending as well. Feel free to use Mustard leaves, fresh fenugreek leaves (methi leaves), or bathua leaves. Chana Dal: This recipe uses Bengal gram dal or chana dal. You may use a combination of dals- pigeon pea lentils (arhar dal), green moong dal, or yellow moong dal. Desi Ghee: I highly recommend tempering lentils with Desi Ghee. If you are a vegan, you may choose vegan cooking oils.

The common ingredients include onion, tomato, garlic, green chilies, spices like cumin seeds, turmeric powder, and red chilli powder. Feel free to add coriander powder and Garam Masala.

Variations

Add Protein- Feel free to add more spinach or leafy greens and adjust the ratio. Add Chunks of paneer. Add South Indian Flavor: You may add curry leaves, mustard seeds and coconut milk for adding south-Indian flavor to this recipe. Toppings- Top with cilantro (coriander leaves) and lemon juice.

How To Make Palak Chana Dal

Step 1. Wash, Prep Spinach and Chana Dal

Wash the chana dal thoroughly under the tap and soak it for about 20 minutes. Also wash the spinach leaves and chop them as desired.

Step 2 Prep Spinach Leaves

While the dal is soaked, you may gather the ingredients and chop the onion, tomato, green chilly. Take spinach leaves and blend them with garlic to a smooth paste.

Step 3. Pressure Cook Chana Dal and Spinach Paste

Drain water from chana dal and wash again. Add Spinach paste, onion, tomatoes, and raw chana dal to a pressure cooker. Add water to soak dal one inch deep (as spinach would also leave the water) along with salt and turmeric powder. Boil for two whistles on full. Simmer for 5 min. Once it cools off, adjust water if needed.

Step 4. Temper The Chana Dal

Check if dal is cooked. Add Desi Ghee Heeng Jeera Red chilly tempering to the dal. You may also add lemon juice or raw mango powder in the last.

Step 5. Serve It

The wholesome Dal palak chana is ready! Serve it with Paratha or rice.

How to make Dal Palak in Instant Pot?

For making Dal Palak in an instant pot, add oil/ ghee and saute onion, garlic, tomato, chopped or paste of spinach leaves, washed lentils, add water along with salt and turmeric. Pressure cook on high for 10 minutes. Wait for the pressure to release and add jeera, lemon juice, red chilly with little ghee tempering.

Expert Tips

Soak the chana dal for at least 20 min (upto an hr) to reduce cooking time. Use fresh spinach for the best flavor. Allow the dal to simmer gently over low heat to allow the flavors to assimilate. I temper the dal by heating red chili powder in ghee until mildly cooked (NOT BURNT) and then pouring it over the cooked dal just before serving. You need to be careful as the ghee is hot and would sizzle when poured over the dal.

Storage Suggestions

To store Palak Chana Dal, let it cool, then transfer to airtight containers. Refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for longer storage. Label containers with the date for easy tracking. Reheat thoroughly before serving.

What To Serve With This Spinach Lentil?

Being North Indian, I prefer Chapati or Paratha with lentils. Rice lovers can definitely team this flavorful dal with jeera rice, brown rice, cilantro lime brown rice.

Stories From Kitchen

As a kid, I would stay away from winter greens as I didn’t like leaves in my food. That continued for long, in fact so long that I had started having these greens after marriage. My mother-in-law not only made me learn how to cook but also shared such quick tips that worked like a charm for a fussy eater like me. For your picky eaters, this recipe rich in proteins would be a perfect choice!