Spinach (palakoora) Dal (pappu)

Here I begin my Dal series...

Since we are vegetarians, dal is our main source of protein. So I make sure I include something made of dal in my cooking everyday. My mom used to make a different dal with each green. But here in the city where I live, we don't have the previlige of getting all those. So, I end up making either tomato dal or spinach dal every week, besides lemon dal and sambar. I don't like my dal to taste masala-y or too spicy, prefer the milder ones. In Telugu, we call it "kammati" pappu. 

There isn't much that goes into the making of Spinach Dal. 

Ingredients:

1. Spinach leaves - washed & chopped
2. Toor dal - cooked
3. Popu/Tadka - urad dal, mustard, jeera, curry leaves, heeng
4. Lemon

Method:

1. Heat a teaspoon of ghee and fry the tadka (I always do ghee-popu for my dals)
2. Fry the chopped spinach leaves till they wilt.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   This is something I learnt from my M-I-L. It helps to retain the nutrients of Spinach. Earlier, I used to pressure cook dal with spinach leaves and then add the popu in the end.
   
    
   
3. Add the cooked dal, salt and chilli powder
4. Few drops of lemon juice and the dal is ready!

An excellent side-dish for both Chapathi & Rice.