Vegan Spinach Curry with Lentil and Coconut | Dal Palak Curry
This spinach curry is an easy-to-make side dish that can be served with rice, flatbread, or dosa for a complete meal. The spinach is cooked with beans or chickpeas in a flavorful dal and coconut curry.
Servings: 6
Calories: 195kcal
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1 Bunch Spinach or Palak a small bunch roughly chopped
- 1 can White beans or chickpeas
- 1 Tomato chopped
For the coconut paste
- ½ cup Grated coconut fresh, dry or frozen
- 3 to 4 Dry red chilies; can use red chile powder instead
- Tamarind small ball approx ½ tbsp
- 4 to 6 Cashews optional
For pressure cooking dal
- ½ Onion chopped
- 1 Green chilli slit
- 1 inch Ginger grated
- ½ cup Toor dal split pigeon peas or any lentil
- Salt to taste
Instructions
Pressure cook the dal
- Wash and add the toor dal to the pressure cooker along with onion, green chili, ginger, and approximately 2 to 2 ½ cups of water. (Water should be at least ½ inch above the toor dal.)½ Onion chopped, 1 Green chilli, 1 inch Ginger grated, ½ cup Toor dal
- Pressure cook for three whistles or until the dal becomes soft—one whistle on high flame and two on medium flame.
- Once the pressure drops, open the lid, whisk the dal, and keep it aside.
Making of the coconut paste
- Grind the grated coconut, dry red chilies, tamarind, and cashews with very little water to form a thick, smooth paste.½ cup Grated coconut, 3 to 4 Dry red chilies; can use red chile powder instead, Tamarind, 4 to 6 Cashews
Making of the spinach coconut lentil curry.
- Add the ground paste to the cooked dal and bring it to a nice boil. You can add water for desired consistency and salt as needed.Salt to taste
- Add spinach, canned beans or chickpeas, and tomato, boil them, and simmer for another 3 to 5 minutes.1 Bunch Spinach or Palak, 1 can White beans, 1 Tomato
- Serve hot with steamed rice, neer dosa, and any flatbreads, and enjoy.
Notes
- Rinse and drain the canned beans to reduce the amount of sodium.
- Vary the amount of dry red chili as per your taste.
- In India, we use toor dal while making gravy like dal palak. Feel free to use any lentil of your choice. Taste and cooking time will vary accordingly.
- This recipe is inspired by vali ambat (malabar spinach curry) from konkani cuisine. I will share the recipe for the same soon.
Nutrition
Calories: 195kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 239mg | Potassium: 517mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 401IU | Vitamin C: 37mg | Calcium: 70mg | Iron: 3mg