Dal Palak

For Dal

1. Clean and rinse dal 3 times in plain water and drain.
2. Add dal, water and turmeric powder to a pressure cooker and stir and cover with lid. Let dal cook on a medium flame for about 15 minutes (7-8 whistle counts).
3. When pressures settles down, check dal to see whether it is cooked through. Remove from flame
4. Mash dal coarsely with a wooden spoon and keep aside.

For Tempering:

1. Add ghee to a pan and heat on a medium flame.
2. Add cumin and temper until fragrant and light brown. Keep an eye on them and avoid burning them.
3. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Avoid browning the onions.
4. Add ginger, garlic and green chilli to the pan and fry until raw smell of garlic disappears.
5. Add asafoetida, coriander powder, and red chilli powder; stir and add tomatoes.
6. Add dry fenugreek to the gravy and cook until tomatoes have softened and released oil.
7. Add spinach and mix well and cook until spinach has wilted.
8. Add mashed dal, ½ cup water and salt. Simmer for another 5-6 minutes or until desired consistency is reached. Remove from flame.
9. Sprinkle garam masala and lemon juice on top and serve hot.

Trivia

• Dal or lentils have been consumed by humans since the Neolithic times (last stage of Stone Age).
• In Judaic beliefs lentils are believed to be representative of the circle of life, because of their round shape, and are hence considered as a food for mourners.
• Queen Marie Leszczynska, wife of King Louis the XV, made lentils so fashionable that they were called as the queen’s lentils.
• During the 1930s in the U.S., there was a 33% boost in domestic spinach consumption, despite the depression era, due the fame of Popeye the Sailor Man cartoon.
• In the Medieval times, artists used to extract the green pigments form spinach to make green paint/ink.