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Dal Saag – Split Yellow Pea and Spinach Dal

Dal Saag – Split Yellow Pea and Spinach Dal

Home   Recipes for Pulses, Grains, Seeds, Flakes, Flour, Ferments...   Dal Saag – Split Yellow Pea and Spinach Dal
Asian Coriander Seeds Dal Dried Peas Hearty Indian Peas Pulses Quick & Easy Split Peas Split Yellow Peas Vegan Vegetarian

by Jenny Chandler 2 Comments

Split yellow peas make a wonderfully satisfying dal, prepared in much the same way as the classic chana dal (made with split chickpeas) of India. The peas give a smoother texture than chickpeas but it’s possible to keep a bit of the firmer texture, if preferred, if you keep an eye.

Jenny Chandler, author of the superb recipe book Pulse, has created this recipe for us as part of the first British Dal Festival, which is gathering dal recipes from around the world.

This dal can be served as part of an Indian spread or makes a comforting supper just served with some flatbread or rice.

Soaking the peas for a few hours will speed up the cooking but they do only take about 45 minutes to cook from scratch.

Serves 4 (with rice or flatbreads)

Ingredients

  • 250g Split Yellow Peas
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • About 1 litre Water
  • 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
  • 1 tsp Whole Cumin Seeds
  • 1 Onion, finely diced
  • 3cm piece of Ginger, finely diced
  • 2 dried Red Chillis, chopped (or any fresh or dried, green or red, depending on your preference for heat
  • 2 cloves Garlic
  • ½ tsp Ground Coriander Seeds
  • ½ tsp Garam Masala
  • 200g Chopped Tinned Tomatoes (or 4 skinned and chopped ripe tomatoes, if in season)
  • 200g Fresh Spinach, washed and roughly chopped (if using baby spinach, just leave it whole)
  • Handful Fresh Coriander, chopped (optional, to garnish)
  • Pinch Amchur - dried sour mango (optional, to garnish)

Method

  1. Rinse the split peas in a sieve, place in a large saucepan with the turmeric and cover with about 1 litre of cold water.
  2. Bring the pan up to the boil and then cover and simmer for about 30 minutes to an hour until the peas are quite soft and creamy. You may need to add more water as the peas cook; I like my dal to have quite a thick texture and some discernible peas whilst others prefer a soupier creamy finish.
  3. Whilst the peas are cooking you can fry up the spiced tomato mixture in a small frying pan.
  4. Heat up the oil and fry off the whole cumin seeds until fragrant.
  5. Add the onion, chilli and ginger and cook for about 10 minutes until the onion begins to soften.
  6. Turn up the heat and stir in the garlic, coriander and garam masala, cooking just until you are enveloped in all the wonderful smells. Add the tomatoes and simmer for a couple of minutes.
  7. Once the split peas are soft and cooked through you can add the tomato mixture, along with a pinch of salt ,and continue to cook for about 5 minutes.
  8. Throw in the spinach at the last moment, it barely requires any cooking at all, just a couple of minutes in the hot dal will wilt it beautifully. Kale or Swiss chard are also great options and take about 5 minutes to cook in the dal over a medium heat.
  9. You could add chopped fresh coriander or a pinch of amchur powder (dried sour mango) just before serving.
  10. Serve hot with plain rice or flat bread.


Jenny Chandler
Jenny Chandler

Author


2 Responses

John
John

September 16, 2019

Cooked this for dinner today and it was lovely.

Jenny
Jenny

March 01, 2018

Made this yesterday. Very good and easy to cook.
So delicious we sat down and ate some straight away in the middle of the afternoon. Will serve it with rice as a meal tomorrow.

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