Recipe for Andhra style Palak Pappu made with moong dal. Lentil curry made with spinach, dal and spices. Perfect side dish for rice. With step by step pictures and video.
This is my style of everyday comfort food. Palak dal / pappu, rice and a little drizzle of ghee. Its easy, delicious and we south Indians can have this every single day with rice. Just this and an appalam/papad on the side makes it a complete meal.
Here are other recipes from the site using
Spinach, Greens etc..
Moong Dal Recipes
Here is the video of how to make palak pappu recipe
Here is how to make palak pappu recipe
Boil the dal with water and a little turmeric for 4 whistles in a pressure cooker. Wait for the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.
Tip: I always faced the problem of the water spewing out of the cooker whenever I cooked dal or rice. I easily overcame the problem by using the pot in pot method. In this method, pour little water in the cooker and then place a bowl inside the cooker with the dal and water in it. By cooking in this method, the problem of water spewing out of the whistle and making a whole mess of the stove area can be easily avoided. Do give it a try. This helps in keeping the work area very clean.
Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida (hing). Let the mustard seeds splutter.
Add in the finely chopped onion, green chillies and garlic. Saute till the onions are slightly brown and the garlic is browned as well.
Once the onions are slightly brown, add in the chopped tomatoes. Add in the salt at this stage. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Saute till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy. Add in the sambar powder and the coriander powder.
You can use home made sambar powder or store bought sambar powder.
Add in the chopped palak greens and saute for 2-3 minutes until the palak leaves are wilted and cooked well.
Add in the cooked dal and simmer for a couple of minutes. If the curry is very thick, dilute with little hot water. Add in a teaspoon of ghee and remove the palak pappu from heat.
Serve hot with rice and ghee.
Palak Pappu Recipe, How to make Spinach Dal
Recipe for Andhra style Palak Pappu. Lentil curry made with spinach, moong dal and spices. Perfect side dish for rice. With step by step pictures and video.
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Ingredients
Cooking Dal for Palak Pappu
- 1/2 cup moong dal
- 1.5 cups water
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
Other Ingredients for Palak pappu
- 1.5 teaspoon Indian sesame oil/gingely oil
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 dried red chillies
- 2 sprigs curry leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)
- 1 onion, finely chopped (half a cup)
- 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 green chillies, chopped
- 2 tomatoes, chopped (half a cup)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sambar powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 3 cups palak, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ghee
Instructions
- Boil the dal with water and a little turmeric for 4 whistles in a pressure cooker. Wait for the pressure to release naturally. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan and add in the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, dry red chillies, curry leaves and asafoetida (hing). Let the mustard seeds crackle.
- Add in the finely chopped green chillies, onion and garlic. Saute till the onions are soft and slightly brown and the garlic is browned as well.
- Once the onions are slightly brown, add in the chopped tomatoes. Add in the salt at this stage. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Saute till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy. Add in the sambar powder and the coriander powder. saute for a minute.
- Add in the chopped palak and saute for 2-3 minutes until the palak is wilted and cooked well.
- Add in the cooked dal and simmer for a couple of minutes. If the curry is very thick, dilute with little hot water.
- Add in the ghee and mix well. The dal is ready.
- Serve hot with rice and ghee.
Notes
Instead of moong dal, toor dal can be used.
Green amaranthus leaves works well too.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Category: Side Dish
- Cuisine: South Indian
Hi Suguna! Just made this recipe after needing to use a glut of spinach growing in the garden. I didn’t have any moong dahl or sambar so I used Chana Dahl and madras Curry powder instead. Only down side was that the chana dahl took longer to cook, especially as I don’t have a pressure cooker and I should’ve soaked the dahl first. Still one very tasty dish and totally worth making.🙂😋
Thank you!
Hi Suguna,
I’ve made this recipe multiple times and my family loves it🙂
Just to know, can i make the same recipe with methi leaves instead of palak?
Thanks!
Looking forward to more such yummy recipes!
Thank you. Sure Niny. you can make it with methi. With methi add the salt at last so it doesnt become very bitter.
Dear Kannamma , this dal turned out SUPER delicious !!!! All the flavors came together so well that the dish which was made for four people was devoured by just two people 😄.
Thank you so much for this delicious recipe.
Thank you so much.
Love your recipes as always 😍👍👍 yummy 😋😋 dish mam
Thank you!
Followed the exact steps and it was perfect. Thnk u
Thank you so much!
Excellent ! My son is the only veggie in a totally non vegetarian household . He loved it . Thank you very much ..
Thank you!
Following your instructions very loosely, I prepared a chickpea-dal kichdi yesterday and went to sleep with happy belly. Thank you so much)))
Thank you so much. Happy you liked it.
Dear Kanamma.
I love this dish, superb with rice,ghee & papad.
Thanks for exhibiting this dish.
Regards,
Mariadass
Thank you. Palak pappu is our house favorite too!
Mam, why do we need coriander powder as the coriander seeds are already there in sambar powder? can it be excluded ?
It adds a nice flavour along with the palak. Yes you can omit.
Hi sissy, made this recipe today!! It tastes great…. ur puliodharai recipe was delicious! Yum yum 🥰 my daughter loved it and she needs it daily 😋😋 most of ur recipes are frm CBE ! Sooper 💐
Thank you!
Tastes amazing.
Thank you so much for trying the palak dal.
I tried and it’s delicious. I made a mistake by keeping a seperate bowl for dal. It was my mistake I didn’t place the lid properly I guess.. however the recipe was very helpful. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for trying the palak dal.
hotel n mess dal will taste really nice…wht secret ingredients do they use????
Lots of fat and oil.
Do I have to roast the moong dal first?
Not required.
Hi Kanamma,
I love your blog, I would like to ask if its ok to put the dal at last without cooking and then have the whole mixture pressure cooked for 3 to 4 whistles. Would that work?
I would not recommend that. Palak will become too mushy.
Ur recipe worked awesome….. My husband wanted to have dal badly and this was way too good for the first time…… Thanks a lot
Thank you so much for trying the palak pappu.
Awesome Recipes Suguna! Just can follow your recipes any day and all the recipes are Yummylicious!
anytime i think of changing my cooking menu , i just land on your website . All your dishes comes super well. Really thank you from the bottom of heart for your passion in cooking and sharing with us!
God Bless!
Thank you so much for trying the palak pappu.
I love this recipe and I’ve made it twice this week! Thank you!
Thank you so much for trying the palak pappu.
Thank you so much for this recipe .. just tried it and it taste really good. Tumbs up..
I have an question, will this dish taste good if we skip only sambar powder ?
Thank you so much for trying the palak pappu. You will need sambar powder.
Hi Suguna, I liked your tips (inserting other pot in the pressure cooker I do same even I told my friends they are happy about no mess in cooking area).This palak lentil curry looks good. I never tried with samber powder. I am going to try it.
Hope you like it.
Is it not Thur dhal? You have mentioned Moog dhal?
Yes its moong. You may do with toor dal too and it comes good!
May be the sambar powder iam using is not good. The taste is not favourable. I have tried mNy of ur recipies but this one something is bot working out for me. Can i teplace sambar poder with something else? Please suggest
Sorry this recipe did not work for you.
Spinach, Moringa leaves or cabbage with dall is a Malaysian favourite gravy to eat with rice, ours is watery and called keerai thannisar. Will try this recipe, it looks delicious.
So nice to know Suba. Hope you like it!
Tried this and Came out well.
Thank you … looking forward for more recipes … 🙂
Thank you!
You are right.Cooking dal in this way is perfect and no mess.
Yes.