Palakura/Palak/Spinach papu/dal

Ingredients:

1.)Palak - 250gm

2.)onion - 1 small chopped(not very finely)

3.)toor dal - 1 and 1/2 cups

4.)green chillies - 5 to 6

5.)curry leave - 6-7

6.)mustard seeds - 2 tsps

7.)cumin seeds - 1 tsp

8.)astefodia - pinch

9.)sambar powder - 1 tsp

10.)turmeric - 1/2 tsp

11.)ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp

Procedure:

Wash the toor dal well and soak it in water for about 15 mins to half an hour.Take oil in a pressure cooker.When it is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds,when they start spluttering add onions curry leaves and green chillies. Saute till the onions get transparent. Add turmeric powder and ginger garlic paste and saute till the raw flavor goes away. then add astefodia and stir for a min. Then add the spinach and saute for 2 to 3 mins. Now add the toor dal and stir for 2 to 3 mins and add approximately4 to 5 cups of water. Ans pressure cook for 4-5 whistles.

After4-5 whistles, turn off the stove and let it rest till the steam is completely gone. (Test for this is, try to lift the weight of the pressure cooker.If no steam comes out,or, u do not get a whoosh sound, the steam is gone.Otherwise let it stand for some more time.)

Once the steam is gone completely, open the lid and mash the dal into a semi-smooth paste.Add salt and sambar powder and stir well. If the dal is too thick(dal is generally thick so do not add too much of water), add a little water and let it boil for 15-20mins. Finally take oil in another pan add 2 tsps of oil.When th oil is hot add mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chilli. When mustard seeds start spluttering, pour this over the spinach dal and mix.Spinach dal is ready to be served. This goes well with white rice.

Note:
Add water to toor dal in 1:2 proportion(for 1 cup toor dal, add 2 cups water). Here we add a little more, because of the spinach that we added. The extra water is for the spinach to cook. As a rule of thumb, add water until the ingredients and completely immersed. This rule works pretty well most of the time :).