Palak wali dal - lentils with spinach

Given that I have an absolute abundance of spinach in my garden right now, I have been using it in absolutely everything from quiches, pies, curries, soups, sauteed with eggs and now with dal. I remember my mum used to make something similar and I have tried to recreate the dish from memory. I have used split Urad dal but I am sure other lentils will also work. You can eat it Indian style with flat bread or rice or enjoy it like a thick, chunky soup with some crusty bread.

Ingredients:

2 Cups of Urad dal (rinsed and soaked for at least 20 minutes)

4 cloves of garlic

1 inch piece of ginger

1 large onion chopped finely

1 tomato finely chopped

1 large bunch of spinach -  washed and roughly chopped

Salt and chilli powder to taste

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder

1/2 teaspoon of Garam masala powder

2 tablespoons of cooking oil (I use rice bran oil)

Coriander springs for garnish

Method:

I precook the dal and cook the spinach with tarka  (tempering) to avoid overcooking the spinach. I pressure cook the dal but you can also cook it in a saucepan until tender.

Cook the washed and soaked dal in about six cups of water with the chopped onion, garlic and turmeric powder until tender.  A pressure cooker will speed up the cooking time. Allow the pressure cooker to come to pressure on high flame, then turn down the gas and allow it to come to pressure two more times. Turn off the gas, set aside and allow the pressure to dissipate on its own.

Fot the tarka, heat up a skillet and add the the cooking oil. Add the chopped onions and fry on a medium heat until the onions are golden brown in colour. Add the chopped tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the salt and chilli powder followed by the chopped spinach. Cook on a low heat until the spinach wilts and is tender. Add the garam masala powder and add the tarka (the spinach, onion tomato mixture) to the cooked dal or add the cooked dal to the tarka (depending on the size of your utensils, the idea is to combine the two). Bring the dal to a boil (adding more water if required to achieve the desired consistency), add the chopped coriander. Serve hot and enjoy.