Dal is an ultimate comfort food for us Indians. Mango spinach dal is an interesting and very easy-to-prepare dal variety. Being a blend of mango dal and spinach dal, this mango spinach dal makes for a delicious, very healthy and comforting dal recipe. Mango spinach dal can be served with hot rice, roti or any other flatbread, or even with dosa.
If there has to be a quick and hassle-free cooking, it is always dal and rice for me. Being a vegetarian, dal / lentil is most important for us, for its high protein and I make sure to use it in different forms almost everyday. Lentils are such a blessing and you can make n number of variations with them, with regional recipes from all the states of India. You can probably say that dal is the backbone of Indian cooking and I just cannot imagine avoiding or skipping dal in one’s diet. Do you also agree that dal is a soul food? With hot rice (and ghee) to roti to any other flatbread, dal just goes great, isn’t it? From making a simple dal with tadka to combining them with other vegetables, greens and with beautiful Indian spices, you can simply gobble up the entire bowl.
With mangoes (raw) being easily available this season, I’m sure a lot of you will have them stocked up. If you can save just 2 to 3 of them from getting pickled, you can quickly make this dal ;). And of course getting a bunch of spinach leaves is no big deal. Addition of spinach makes it more healthier and it is a beautiful combination with raw mango. Also, this needs just mild spice (masala) which of course, you can alter as per your taste and requirement. Trust me, this is so heavenly with hot rice and ghee, but yes, I also served it with chapathi for dinner and it was equally good. So yummy, so creamy, and OH-SO-COMFORTING!
Variations you can make in Mango Spinach Dal Recipe :
This mango and spinach dal recipe turns out great with sour raw mangoes. But, if you have slightly ripened raw mango which is a bit sweet, you can definitely use it with addition of some tamarind pulp after the mangoes are cooked.
The most important point to remember is regarding the cooking of raw mangoes. Make sure to not overcook them as they will end up being mushy and might not go that great. So, choosing raw mangoes would be ideal, but if you are using slightly ripened raw mangoes, remember they get cooked quicker than raw mangoes.
I have used toor dal mainly and just 2 tablespoons of chana dal. You can use the same or only toor dal or toor dal plus moong dal too.
I added an extra tempering / tadka after the dal was completely done. This just takes the dal to another level, but you can skip it if you do not wish to add.
Lastly, if you wish to skip mango and make it only palak dal, you can go ahead, or if you wish to skip palak you can do that and make plain mango dal. Either way it should work fine. If you are making only palak dal, you can use onion and ginger-garlic in the tempering, but I advice you not to use them for mango dal or for this recipe. (refer notes)
I hope you give this recipe a try and enjoy it as much as I enjoyed preparing it and writing it down for you all. I would love to hear your feedback on this. When you try it, kindly post your valuable comments below or share it with me personally on Instagram / Facebook, or post it with due courtesy. You may also pin it on Pinterest.
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Recipes you might be interested in:
Palak Rajma Oats Lollipop (non-fried)
Mavinakayi Gojju | Raw Mango Curry
So, let us move on to the recipe. Shall we?
*Standard measurement: 1 cup=250ml
Mango Spinach Dal Recipe | Mango Palak Dal
Ingredients
To pressure cook
- 1.5 cups palak leaves (spinach) - , tightly packed
- 0.5 cup toor dal
- 2 tbsps chana dal - , optional
- 1.5 cups water
- 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
To temper
- 1 tsp oil
- 0.5 tsp mustard seeds
- 0.5 tsp cumin seeds
- 0.5 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 sprig curry leaves
- 2 nos. green chillies - , adjust as per taste
- 2 nos. raw mangoes - , large (peeled and cubed)
- 1 tsp red chilly powder - , adjust as per taste
- 0.5 tsp cumin powder
- 0.5 tsp garam masala
- salt - , to taste
For extra tempering
- 2 tsps oil
- 2 nos. dry red chillies
- 0.5 tsp cumin seeds
- 0.5 tsp red chilly powder
- big pinch of asafoetida
Instructions
- Wash and chop spinach leaves. Wash toor dal and chana dal thoroughly until water runs clear. Pressure cook spinach leaves, lentils with water and turmeric upto 3 whistles.
- In a deep and thick bottomed pan, add oil, temper with mustard seeds, cumin seeds. Once they splutter add turmeric powder, curry leaves and green chillies. Once they are done, add chopped raw mangoes along with some water and salt. Cook this until mangoes are half done.
- Once mangoes are half cooked, add the pressure cooked lentils and spinach leaves. Give it a good mix and add some water to adjust the consistency. Next add red chilly powder, cumin powder and more salt if required. Simmer this in low-medium heat for about 10 minutes. Make sure to stir it in between so that it does not get stuck to the bottom of the pan. Also, as it cooks the dal starts getting thick, so add water accordingly.
- Once you have simmered well, add garam masala and simmer again for another 2 to 3 minutes. Adjust the consistency as required by adding water. Check for salt and spices and take it off the heat once done.
- To add extra tempering / tadka, heat oil in a small pan. Once hot, add cumin seeds, dried red chillies, red chilly powder and asafoetida. Make sure to do this in low heat as you do not want the red chillies and red chilly powder to get burnt. Pour the tempering over prepared dal.
- Serve mango and spinach dal with hot rice, roti etc. and enjoy hot.
Notes
- Make sure you do not cook the raw mangoes completely initially, as you have to simmer the dal again for around 10 to 15 minutes. Otherwise, the mangoes will get mashed and you will not get to enjoy the mango pieces.
- I have used 2 large sour raw mangoes. If you have small ones, make it four in quantity.
- I also tried adding onion, ginger-garlic in my first trial, but did not like the taste as I felt they dominate over the flavour of mango. So avoid adding onion, ginger and garlic.
- Adjust the quantity of green chillies and red chilly powder as required.