Palak Ki Daal: Moong Lentils with Spinach

I love this Daal for two reasons - it's tasty and filled with good stuff! Daals are great, healthy food by themselves, but with the spinach in this dish, things only get better! You can serve Palak Ki Daal with plain boiled rice and a pickle of your choice or just have by itself like a soup! This is what I call good, easy food!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup moong daal - moong/ split yellow lentils
  
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1" piece of ginger grated
• 1 small bunch spinach, washed and chopped roughly (approximately 1/2 lb or 250 gms)
• 3 tbsps melted butter or olive oil
  
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 dry red chilli broken into half
• 5 cloves garlic chopped very fine
• A pinch of asafetida
• Salt to taste
• Half a lime/ lemon

Preparation:

1. Wash the moong daal thoroughly under running water. Soak in warm water for 20 minutes.
2. Put the daal into a deep pan and add water (level should be 2 finger digits over the top of the daal). Set up to boil, on medium heat.
3. Add the turmeric powder and ginger now and stir. Cook till the daal is soft enough to mash. Add more water as you cook, if required, to keep the consistency similar to that of a thick soup.
4. When the daal is cooked, add the spinach, season with salt to taste, stir and reduce the heat to minimum.
5. In another small pan, heat the ghee till hot and add the cumin seeds. Fry till sizzling stops and then add the dry red chilli, chopped garlic and asafetida. Fry till garlic turns pale golden in color. Now carefully add this ghee-spice mixture (called tadka in Hindi), to the cooked, simmering daal. It will sizzle and might splash so be careful!
6. Put the Palak Ki Daal into a serving dish, garnish with a squeeze of lime/lemon and serve.

Palak Ki Daal: Moong Lentils with Spinach