Last week, I went home to my parents house in Michigan and learned three new Indian recipes. The first that I learned -- which takes the longest to prepare -- is a very tasty and very healthy spinach and dal dish. It is an excellent accompaniment to rice, any Indian breads or yogurt. And although it takes about 40 minutes to prepare, most of that time it is just cooking in a pot so it's fairly hands-off.
Ingredients:
- 10 oz. of frozen chopped spinach
- 1/2 cup of mung dal/pappu (available at Indian grocery stores -- it is yellow)
- 2 cups chopped onions
- 3 thai green chilis (or other spicy fresh chilis), sliced lengthwise or chopped
- 1/8 tsp. turmeric
- 1 1/4 - 2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes (2 or 3 tomatoes)
- 3 tsps. homemade tamarind paste (if you use store-bought tamarind paste, its usually more concentrated so probably use 2 tsps)
- 2 dried red chilis, broken in half
- 8-10 dried curry leaves
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 3/4 tsp. mustard seeds
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 2 - 3 fenugreek seeds
- pinch of asafoetida
- vegetable oil
- salt to taste
Directions:
- In a medium pot, put in the mung dal and put in water to both fully cover the mung dal and have an additional 1/4 inch of water above the mung dal. Increase heat so to bring the water to a boil.
- After 5 minutes or so (as the water heats, but before it boils), add the frozen spinach and the chopped onions. As you put in those items, do not fully stir them in -- you want the pappu to remain at the bottom of the pot for most of the cooking so it can get fully cooked.
- Add in the turmeric and cover the pot.
- As the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes.
- Then add in the tomato, tamarind paste and approx. 2 tsp. salt
- Add water as appropriate -- it should be a soupy consistency because it will continue to lose water as it cooks.
- Cover and cook the mixture an additional 7 minutes or so.
- In a seperate small pot, heat a small amount of vegetable oil on medium heat and add in the mustard seeds and cumin.
- When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in the fenugreek, garlic, dried red chilis and the curry leaves. Saute the mixture together for a few minutes.
- When the flavors start to come out/blend together, add in a pinch of the asafoetida and saute.
- Pour the contents of the small pot into the simmering medium pot, remove from heat and stir the entire mixture (including the dahl at the bottom). Add salt to taste (or lemon if you prefer) -- it's better to overflavor a bit because the flavors will become muted as the mixture settles.
- Serve and enjoy!
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