Instant Pot Spinach Dal (Moong Dal Palak)
This Instant pot spinach dal is healthy, wholesome and packed with protein and fiber. Pair with steamed rice or quinoa to have nutritious and comforting meal.
This is dish is also known as moong dal palak. When we say dal or lentils, there are many different kinds of verity. Here we are using moong dal aka split yellow lentils or split green grams. And palak is Hindi term for spinach.
Here we can use other kind of lentils like masoor dal (split red lentils) or Toor dal (split pigeon peas). But I would prefer moong dal. Because amongst all the lentils moong dal is the one that cooks very quickly (just 2 minutes on manual high pressure).
So we can add spinach leaves right in there along with lentils and cook for 2 minutes only. Voila !! It is ready in no time.
Now let’s say if we use other kind of lentils which requires around 5-7 minutes of cooking time in Instant pot. In that case we cannot add spinach leaves together otherwise spinach will cook too much and lose its nutritions. So to keep the nutritions intact, we need to add spinach leaves once dal is pressure cooked and need to turn the saute mode on to cook the leaves.
So why add extra step of cooking leaves later with saute mode. Instead let’s go for using moong dal. Dump all the ingredients including palak in the instant pot and cook. Simple right?
This dal palak is Vegan and gluten free.
By now you might know how much I love my instant pot onion tomato masala. Here I have used frozen onion tomato masala to make this spinach dal. Since I have it in my freezer all the time, I don’t need to chop anything for making this dal palak. This makes my life easy for everyday meal cooking. You should make it too.
If not have onion tomato masala ready, I have mentioned the method in notes below on how to make instant pot spinach dal without masala.
At the end Lemon juice is added. Trust me, it perks up the flavors. Addition of lemon juice or lime juice takes the whole dish to another level. Believe me, you don’t want to skip it.
Make this spinach dal in your instant pot and let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Instant Pot Spinach Dal Recipe (Moong Dal Palak Recipe in IP)
US measuring cups are used (1 cup = 240 ml)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 teaspoons Cumin seeds
- ¼ cup Onion Tomato Masala , (Fresh or Frozen) Chunky version
- 1 cup Yellow moong dal (split and skinless), washed under running cold water
- 1 teaspoon Red chili powder
- 1 teaspoon Coriander powder
- Salt , to taste
- 4-5 cups Water
- 2 ½ cups Spinach (Palak)
- 1 tablespoon Lemon juice, or lime juice
Instructions
Making Instant Pot Dal Palak Recipe:
- Turn the instant pot on saute mode.
- Once hot add oil and cumin seeds. Let seeds sizzle a bit.
- Add onion tomato masala, wahsed moong dal, red chili powder, coriander powder, salt, water, spinach leaves.
- Mix and slightly push down the spinach leaves.
- Cover the IP with lid, keep the valve to sealing position.
- Cook on manual (High pressure) for 2 minutes.
- Do QPR (quick pressure release) by positioning the valve to venting.
- Add lemon juice, mix and serve.
Video
Notes
How to cook dal palak without onion tomato masala?
- After adding cumin seeds, add ½ cup chopped onions, 1 teaspoon ginger paste or finely chopped, 1 teaspoon garlic paste or finely chopped. Saute till onions are soft.
- Add ½ cup chopped tomatoes and cook till soft.
- Add 1 teaspoon coriander powder and ½ teaspoon turmeric powder. Mix.
- Continue with next step of adding moong dal, salt, chili powder, water.
