This Lentil Dal with Spinach Sauce is one of the most delicious, soul-satisfying plant-based, Indian meals! This version is fragrant, flavorful and packed with nutrients- think of this like Saag Paneer, but substituting black lentils instead of the cheese! Super tasty and healthy. See 30-Second Video!
This recipe for Spinach Lentil Dal, which I’ve nicknamed “Emerald Dal” because of its beautiful rich color was such a comforting meal to make this week. Somehow it feels so grounding and nurturing. Not only is it wholesome and nutritious, but it is also bursting with authentic Indian flavor -and honestly, I can’t wait to make it again!
To make this Lentil Dal with Spinach Sauce you’ll need a full pound of spinach. You can use frozen spinach if you like but fresh spinach is in the season I am taking advantage of it.
How to make Emerald Dal | 30-second video
How to make Spinach Lentil Dal
Step 1: Chop the onion, garlic, ginger and chili pepper. If you like heat, add more chili pepper.
Step 2: Saute the onion garlic & chili pepper in ghee and add the spices. Feel free to use coconut oil, but ghee truly elevates this dish.
Here I’m using black mustard seeds, cumin seeds and garam masala which you can make at home.
Step 3: Then add the fresh spinach, a little water, cover, and wilt over low heat for just a few minutes.
A pound of spinach will wilt down into about 2 cups- if that.
Step 4: Blend the spinach sauce with a little water to form a spinach puree. It doesn’t need to be smooth unless you prefer it that way. Look how bright and green it is!
Step 5: Pour the spinach sauce back into the pan- and don’t overheat this or you will lose the gorgeous color!
Step 6: Then fold in the cooked lentils I add somewhere between 3-4 cups of cooked caviar lentils. And I love these little black lentils most of all because they cook so quickly!!!
TIP #1: I cook lentils using the pasta method. Cook in ample salted water until tender, then strain. That way you don’t have to have exact measurements with the water to lentil ratio. It is very forgiving!
TIP #2: Using 3 cups of cooked lentils (instead of 4) will lend a “saucier” (more flavorful) dal which I prefer. But if you have 4 people in your family, I’d just add another cup of lentils. 🙂
Step 7: Then stir in a little plain yogurt which will add creaminess and a touch of tanginess.
Step 8: Taste. Adjust salt and heat to your liking. You want this slightly salty if serving over rice. A little squeeze of lemon or lime juice is nice here too!
Tip #3: Remember, do not overheat the spinach lentil dal or you’ll lose that lovely vibrant emerald color!
Tip #4: At the same time as I’m making the dal- I’m also pan-searing naan bread, and cooking basmati rice to go with it.
Spinach Lentil Dal- lovingly called Emerald Dal here at home…a simple and tasty combo that can be made in 30 minutes if you cook the lentils ahead!
Yes, you can eat it like lentil soup if you prefer. 🙂
What to serve with Lentil Spinach Dal?
- Basmati rice
- Naan Bread
- Indian Potatoes and Cauliflower
- Instant Pot Tikka Masala
- Raita!
- Mint Chutney
- Indian Butter Chicken
- Rajasthani Potatoes
- Authentic Chai!
- Chai Cookies!
You may also like:
- Palak Paneer!
- Indian Fried Rice
- Indian Shepherds Pie
- Frankies (Bombay Burritos)
- Naan Bread
- Indian Basmati Rice
- Raita
Enjoy the grounding, nourishing Spinach Lentil Dal this week and let me know what you think in the comments below!
xoxo
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Spinach Lentil Dal Recipe
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 30
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
- Category: vegetarian, main, legumes
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Indian
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Spinach Lentil Dal Recipe- an Indian lentil recipe with a flavorful spinach sauce that is full of flavor and nutrients and that can be made in 30 minutes. Serve with Basmati Rice, and naan bread!
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons ghee (or coconut oil, but ghee will elevate)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons ginger, finely chopped
- 1 medium jalapeno, finely chopped (or 1 serrano) this is mildly spicy, add more if you like.
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 lb BABY spinach (fresh or frozen)
- 20 fresh mint leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
- 2 tablespoons water (if using fresh spinach)
- —–
- 3/4 cup water
- —–
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (or vegan yogurt)
- 3 –4 cups cooked black lentils (or aka caviar lentils, beluga lentils or French green lentils) about 1 1/2 cups dry lentils.
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste!
Instructions
- If cooking black lentils and basmati rice, start them first (see notes)
- Make the Spinach Sauce: Sautee the onion in ghee, in a large pan, over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then add garlic, ginger and chilies. Saute until fragrant and golden. Add the fennel seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and garam masala and stir two minutes. Lower heat to low. Add the fresh spinach, fresh mint, fenugreek and 2 tablespoons water. Cover pan, 2-3 minutes, letting spinach wilt. Give a few stirs. Don’t overcook!
- Blend Spinach Sauce: Place the wilted spinach mixture in a blender and add the 3/4 cups of water. Pulse and few times (hold the lid down tight). If you want a smooth sauce, blend until smooth. I left a little texture here. Pour it back into the pan, set on low heat. Don’t overheat or you will lose the pretty color.
- Combine: Stir in the yogurt, lentils and salt. Taste. Adjust salt to your liking, adding more if necessary! You want this slightly more salty because you are serving over rice which will mellow it out a lot. For more heat add a pinch of cayenne or chili flakes. To “up” the flavor even more, add a bit more garam masala spice to taste. If you want a little acidity a tiny squeeze of lemon is nice.
- Serve with the basmati rice and naan bread!
- Emerald Dal will keep up to 4 days in the fridge.
Notes
Cook black lentils according to package or try the pasta cooking method: simply boil 1 1/4 cups dry lentils in 6 cups of salted water until just tender, strain. The size of lentil will determine cooking time. Little black lentils take 20-30 minutes. Feel free to sub other whole lentils for the black lentils.
SPINACH: If using fresh spinach, be sure to use baby spinach, as mature spinach and their stems can be bitter.
Yes, you can sub coconut oil or butter for the ghee- but in my opinion, the ghee really elevates and adds so much flavor.
Feel free to bump up the spices and heat (add more chilies and spices).
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 ¼ cup
- Calories: 360
- Sugar: 5.1 g
- Sodium: 694.7 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 49.7 g
- Fiber: 10 g
- Protein: 22.3 g
- Cholesterol: 19.9 mg
This recipe might be my favorite from this website so far! So incredibly rich with flavor and very filling. I added cayenne, smoked paprika, and garlic powder at the end just to boost the flavors. I subbed in sour cream because I forgot the yogurt and it worked perfectly! I can’t wait to eat the leftovers this week :).
Great to hear!
Can you substitute fenugreek seeds for the leaves? Thanks!
It’s a totally different flavor- the leaves are best here!
Hello Sylvia,
This dal was absolutely delicious. I made a few changes- I added 30 mint leaves, skipped fennel seeds as I didn’t have them, added a little bit of lemon juice and teeny bit of brown sugar too. It tastes even better the next day. Thank you for a great recipe. Definitely will make this again. 🙂
I’m so happy you enjoyed this Swati!
Great recipe! I thought two teaspoons of cumin seeds were a bit much for me so I’d half or maybe even quarter that next time. But I enjoyed this otherwise. I didn’t have enough black lentils so I improvised and threw in some chickpeas too, and it turned out pretty good!
Perfect Aditi!
Awesome Meal! I made mine with home grown Egyptian spinach and substituted fresh lemon balm leaves for the fenugreek leaves since I didn’t have any. We ate the dish with home made Taboon bread, rice, and yogurt. This is now my family’s favorite way to eat lentils. Thank you for the recipe!
Oh YUMMMM!Live this Libbie, thanks for sharing!
Hi, I am going to try this recipe, I just have a few questions.
What else can I use instead of the fenugreek leaves? And, should I use greek yoghurt or just a normal plain one?
Looking forward to try it.
Either yogurt will work here. Fenugreek really has its own unique taste. I would just leave it out if you can’t find it.
It’s a nice recipe for a European or American palate which prefers less spice. For a Asian palate, I would add more whole spices, chillies and garlic as Spinach has some inherent blandness.
Thanks for your input- appreciated Hardik!
This is fantastic. Thank you!
Such an amazing recipe!! It was so tasty, can it be frozen?
Yes, but you will lose that lovely vibrant green.
So yummy and flavorful! I used the tip about acidity and added a squeeze of lemon at the end – to die for! My three and five-year old children locked their plates clean and I call that a total WIN!
Thanks for a delicious recipe!
Awesome Ashley!
This is a delicious recipe. Full of flavor, easy to make, and healthy. I will be making it again.
Awesome Samantha!
Delicious! My boyfriend tried this when I made it and said he could eat it every single day. Didn’t have fenugreek leaves and substituted Penzey’s taco seasoning for the cumin and coriander spices because it contains both and I read online that it is a good substitute. My question is how long can you keep this recipe in the fridge? My boyfriend and I love it, and want to try meal prepping the dish. <3
Hi Hayley! Love how you adapted- great job! This will keep up to 4 days in the fridge. 🙂
So super yummy! I was looking for something vegetarian as I’m trying to increase my meat free meals and this one is Devine. I couldn’t find fenu Greek so just left it out. Used French green lentils and yellow mustard seeds as black not available. I didn’t have any yogurt so added a 100g tub of hummus I had in the fridge. Naan bread and rice to serve….. I can’t wait to have the left overs!
I made it with these potatoes instead of the lentils (and used your recipe in place of the kale in that recipe)
So yummy!!
Thank you 🙂
Forgot the potato recipe! https://moonandspoonandyum.com/spicy-kale-potato-curry-vegan-gluten-free/#comment-30109
Great idea Joy! Love it!
Just made it. Delicious. Looking forward to eating the rest tomorrow! THANKS 🙂
First time ever commenting on a recipe, but I just had to share how amazing this dahl was. It’s the first dahl I’ve made from scratch where I’ve been genuinely happy with the result. So easy to make and absolutely delicious. Will be adding this one in to the meal rotation! Thanks so much Sylvia!
Thanks Emma- so happy you liked it!
Subbed a LOT, but it was still amazing — hallmark of a great dish!
Thanks Al!
This was great! I used frozen spinach and didn’t regret. I was worried it would be bland as I cannot use any chiles even powder right now but I substituted with a lot of black pepper. Salt is the key!!! Thanks as always
Thanks Anna. YES, Salt is key. 🙂
I cooked this tonight, but substituted a lot of the spices since I didn’t have them. Smoked paprika for the jalapeño, 3/4 tsp of black pepper, 1-1/4 tsp of curry powder, allspice and ground cumin for the garam masala. No fennel seeds, no fenugreek leaves(?) and a trio of lentils..
My wife and I both enjoyed it😁
Mixed it with the rice.. no instructions for serving..
My attempt to be more vegetarian is on a good start.
Thanks!
Nice work Kevin.Glad you were able to adapt this to what you had on hand!
Beautiful! Thank you for all your nourishing recipes, always a go to as its so consistently good! I wondered , when cooked is the dahl freezable ? i also wondered this about the beetballs ?!
Many thanks!
Natasha
The dal would freeze well, and my guess is the beet balls should too?
I found it to be very very bland… with that being said, I couldn’t find the fenugreek leaves, is that why there wasn’t much flavor?
I’m not sure. Did you cut back on the salt or heat?
I followed the recipe exactly. I feel like I’m having to add a ton of salt to it. I did order the fenugreek leaves and I’m going to add and see if that helps.
Sounds good, let me know Christina. Yes, I add more salt (besides the teaspoon) to taste at the end, along with cayenne and a little garam masala. Please see the end of the recipe instructions. You can really adjust this to your own tastes.
I was wondering if kale would be a good option for the spinach?
I have not tried this with kale, but you would really have to cook it down to get it tender, and then you may lose the color? Up to you!
Great recipe and was even better the next day. A little more work than I anticipated but I think it will be easier the next time I make it. My 15 year old son liked it too so it’s a keeper!
Delicious…even for non-vegetarians!
Yummo! Used green lentils as that is what.i had. Followed everything else quite closely, minus the mint leaves as I didn’t have any. Fenugreek (methi) leaves are important to the overall flavour. Delicious!
Haven’t tried this yet but it looks delicious. When is the 1 tsp the fenugreek dried leaves added?
In step two with the spinach and mint. 🙂