Chickpea Dal with Spinach

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Chickpea Dal with Spinach

by Nayna Kanabar March-8-2016

A delicious protein packed dal, spiced with ginger and garlic and aromatic spices.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Chickpea Dal (Split chickpeas)
• 200g Baby Spinach finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon Garlic paste
• 1/2 teaspoon Ginger paste
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Turmeric Powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Chilli Powder
• 2 Green chillies
• 5 Curry Leaves
• 1 Dried red chilli
• 1/2 teaspoon Mustard seeds
• 1/2 tablespoon Olive oil
• 1/4 cup Passata( sieved tomatoes)

Instructions

1. Wash the dal in few changes of water and then soak it over night.2. In the morning change the water and add dal to a large pan with 1 litre water and bring to boil, reduce the heat and simmer the dal for 30 minutes until its cooked but still holding shape. Intermittently while dal is simmering remove the white frothy scum that collects and discard it.Once dal is cooked turn off heat and leave it aside.2.Add the oil in a sauce pan and wait for it to heat up. Add the mustard seeds and red dried chilli and wait for them to splutter.3. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for a few seconds then add the passata, followed by the salt, chilli powder, turmeric powder and cook the mixture for a minute until all the spices are blended into the tomatoes.3.Add the chopped spinach and sauté until its cooked for about 2-3 minutes.4. Add the cooked dal and add a little extra water if needed to get the required consistency.I prefer my dal thick so I add less water.5. Simmer the dal for 5 minutes with the spinach mixture to allow all the spices to blend in.6. Turn off heat and transfer dal to serving bowl. Serve with steamed rice or chappati.

Details

Prep time: 10 mins(plus overnight soaking) Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 10 mins Yield: Serves 2

NB- Chickpea dal is basically black chickpeas that have had the outer coating removed and then split. It is readily available in the Asian section of most supermarkets, health food stores and Indian grocery shops. The packet will have on it chana dal.