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Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Moong Dal Palak (Moong dal Spinach)





















Ingredients:



* 1 cup moong dal


* 3/4 teaspoon salt


* 2 cups of water


* 1 pound of spinach (can use frozen spinach)


* 1 onion red or yellow


* 1 tomato


* 2-3 Serrano peppers


* 1" piece of ginger


* 8 pods of garlic


* 1 tablespoon butter


* 1 table spoon oil


* 1 teaspoon cumin seeds


* 1/4 teaspoon asafetida


* 1 bay leaf


* 1 cup of crushed tomatoes or tomato puree from can


* 1 table spoon coriander powder


* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder


* 1 teaspoon cumin powder


* 1 tablespoon mango powder


* 1 teaspoon turmeric powder


* 1 teaspoon garam masala


* 1 teaspoon ground black pepper


* 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper


* 1 teaspoon salt or to taste


* 1 cup of water


* 1/4 cup of heavy cream (optional)




Method:



* Wash moong dal, add 2 cups of water and salt and cook it in pressure cooker.


* Let the cooker cool when done, while you prepare the spinach and gravy sauce.


* Wash spinach and boil it in uncovered pot until tender (if you cover it the spinach will turn dark)


* When spinach is tender and cooked, drain all water and set aside to cool.


* Chop and coarsely grind onion, ginger, garlic, serrano pepper and tomato in food processor.


* Heat oil and butter in a pan.


* Add cumin seeds when oil/butter is hot, when seeds crackle add asafetida and bay leaf.


* Add chopped onion, garlic, ginger, tomato and chili paste.


* Saute until brown and all the water is gone.


* Add all the dry spices, stir and cook for few seconds.


* Add tomato puree or crushed tomato from can.


* Cook for 2 min, stirring occasionally.


* Add 1 cup of water and dal, cook for 1-2 min.


* Chop/grind the boiled spinach in food processor to desired consistency.


* Add chopped spinach to dal.


* Cook for 3-4 min.


* Add heavy whipping cream, stir and mix well.


* Serve hot with rice, chapati or Naan.



Hints/Suggestions:


* You can change the proportion of moong dal to spinach, that is you can add less spinach and more dal or vice versa.

* You can make Masoor palak (Lentil spinach) same way by substituting Moong dal with Masoor (lentils).

* To make it less rich and creamy you avoid adding heavy cream at the end.



Recipe and Photograph by Surekha.

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