Dhaba Style Dal Palak – Instant Pot Version

Shilpa

This hearty Dhaba Style Dal Palak – Instant Pot Version is super easy to make and is a cozy vegetarian meal. This lentil soup is loaded with spices and spinach. I’d always rather do homemade dal rather than restaurants if possible. So, today, I’m sharing this really simple recipe for a quick healthy meal.

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 20

Total Time 25

Course Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 cup toor dal
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1 medium onion (1/2 cup chopped)
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste (freshly minced or packaged)
2 tomatoes, medium (1 and 1/2 cups chopped)
1 and 1/2 cups spinach
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp kashmiri chili powder
1 and 1/4 tsp ground coriander (dhaniya powder)
3/4 tsp garam masala
1 serrano pepper, silt but still intact (hari mirch)
1/2 tsp ground turmeric (haldi)
3 cups water
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp cilantro (dhaniya ke patte)

Tempering/Tadka

2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 tsp asafoetida (heeng)
1 tsp garlic (freshy minced)
1 whole dried red chili peppers
1/2 tsp Kashmiri chili powder

Instructions

Prep

Finely rinse and dice the onion.
Rinse and chop the tomato, spinach, and slit the green chili vertically but keep it still intact. Rinse and chop the cilantro finely and set it aside.
Rinse the dal with water a couple of times and set aside.

Cook

Select sauté on the Instant Pot. Add ghee to the pot. Then add in cumin seeds. After the cumin seeds splutter add in onions and ginger garlic paste. Stir well.
After the onions turn golden brown, add in tomatoes, and let them sauté for 2 to 3 minutes until mushy. Additionally, keep stirring intermittently. Next add in spinach, salt, Kashmiri chili powder, ground coriander, garam masala, serrano pepper, and ground turmeric. Give it a good stir.
Further, after about a minute, add the rinsed dal and water. Stir it all up. Press cancel.
Close the lid and select manual for 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes and then quick release the pressure. Finally open the lid and garnish with lemon juice.

Tempering

In a pan on medium-heat, add in 2 tablespoons ghee.
Once the ghee is warm add in cumin seeds, asafoetida, minced garlic finely, and whole dried chili pepper.
Let is sauté for a minute until the cumin seeds splutter and garlic becomes fragrant. Watch it or else the garlic can burn. Further add in Kashmiri chili powder and stir for a few seconds. Transfer to the dal right away or else the garlic and chili can burn. Mix the dal well. Finally, top the dal with cilantro.

Notes

This dal tends to thicken if kept in the refrigerator for the next day. You can add a little boiling water to thin it as needed. You can reduce the red chili powder or eliminate the serrano pepper as per your spice tolerance. On a scale of 1 to 5, I would place this dal at 3 in terms of spice levels, with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest.

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