Anjali's Food Kaleidoscope

Dal palak ( Anjali style)

                 Every food blog will have this recipe , so why do I put something which is already there and which is tastier than mine. Its because mine is different not just in taste but in the amount of nutrition and above all , its simple. Seriously, I had not really thought of keeping my recipes simple but all those who read my blog have one word for  my recipes " simple”. The adjective is used too often to describe the recipes ,so now I just have got to put as many simple recipes as I can or else simplify the complicated ones without compromising on the taste to a certain extent.

      But really all recipes can not be simplified , a lot of them need an extra preparation and I feel that adds to the suspense and drama of making the food. I mean , one starts the night before by marinating or soaking etc and the next morning the real action takes place.

     Food is associated with all the important events of our lives be it a  prayer ceremony , weddings , birthdays , celebration of any kind just got to have food. So why isn’t the daily business of making food an exciting activity for many.

    Look at it this way , you just put a few things in a pot in the right order and right measurement and you are creating an absolutely delectable  ( hopefully ) thing which will be used up right then and provide you with nutrition and energy to get along with life.

   If I have been able to convince a few of you to cook , then lets start with this recipe which is one of the simplest and also one of most nutritious food to my mind.

   We will begin by soaking half a cup of chana dal in the pressure cooker for atleast half an hour to one hour . Now why this difference in time…well that depends on the nature of the water and the dal.

 Back in Goa I would soak the dal for just about twenty minutes and one whiste would be fine , but here I am using the organic variety “down to earth” and it takes about three whistles to cook completely.        How do I come to know how much time would my dal take, well honestly I personally have asked this question from any one who comes in mind, beginning from the maid who comes daily ( I also have to listen to all the talk about things getting dearer and dearer every day and followed by demand for a raise , so thats a bit risky there), to the neighbour , to any local or just about any one. I have often asked such questions in the supermarket to the other buyers and believe me sometimes they have even offered me the recipe of making it their style.

    Any ways back to the recipe.

   So we have soaked the dal in the pressure cooker itself, now I have taken about half a cup of dal and I have put just about enough water to cover it , say about half a cup only.

  After an hour your dal would have soaked up all the water.

  Now comes the part where my recipe differs from the others.

  I put in about 5 cups of chopped spinach , you could use chopped spinach anywhere between two to five cups . It just depends on how green you want your dal to be , quarter cup of chopped onions , half a cup of chopped tomatoes, one heaped tablespoon of ginger garlic paste, one green chilli chopped fine and half a teaspoon of turmeric powder along with salt to taste. I  have put one level teaspoon here.

So I just pile up these things in the pressure cooker and mix with the dal .

Give about two whistles , I had to give three( refer to my previous statement about the water and all  that stuff) and when the steam goes off, open the cooker and with a hand masher just gently mash the dal . 

   Now the  dal palak  is ready to be eaten in case you want to completely avoid the oil or ghee.

   But I just love the whole process of seasoning the food so I take one tablespoon of ghee…you could take upto five also

…. And put one teaspoon of cumin seeds , the moment they crackle ...

    I pour it into the dal palak....

   ….and serve with plain rice, rotis , purees , pav or have anythything which suits your style.I agree that the dal palak is not very photogenic , but aren't we talking health here...you will look good if you have this dal palak ..thats what matters more than the dal palak looking good. 
     This amount of dal palak  is sufficient for three adults , so you can divide or multiply according to how many people you are making it for.