Spinach Dal with Rice, a favorite Indian lentils soup with an easy dump and done Instant Pot recipe.
A family favorite recipe where dal is cooked creamy and soft with basic spices such as cumin, turmeric, garlic and optional veggies, served over hot fluffy rice for a wholesome comfort meal that the entire family can enjoy.
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What is Dal?
The word dal in Hindi language has 2 meanings:
- Dried split pulses such as masoor dal, toor dal, moong dal etc. and
- A soup, stew-like dish made with the tender cooked split pulses tempered with spices.
Dal and rice is part of a quintessential Indian meal with each family having several favorite recipes, some that have been passed along for generations.
There are many variations and ways to prepare dal. Starting with plain soft cooked dal with just turmeric and salt, to tempered or tadka dal where cooked the lentils are topped with a smoky tempering of spices such as cumin, turmeric and chillies, to a dal cooked with spices and assortment of vegetables.
Often served over rice, dal is also an inexpensive way to eat proteins paired with carbohydrates to makes a complete and hearty meal.
This spinach dal recipe is on my weekly menu for many years. It started with trying to incorporate greens into our diets while trying to manage a busy weeknight meals. I grew up eating my mom’s version of spinach dal that tastes incredible but I rarely have the time to make her detailed recipe which resulted into my simpler version that comes pretty close to hers with much less efforts.
My original spinach dal recipe that I had share last year involves a tempering and layering of ingredients. Using the Instant Pot to start and finish up this dish in itself is a HUGE plus. You have one pot to clean and hands free once you press the pressure cook button. A big advantage over traditional pressure cookers that you need to manually keep track of time by counting the whistles.
A year later, I keep trying to make the recipes even more simple so my children can make them independently. Making a daal seemed like a perfect candidate for a dump and done recipe and this is how this easy recipe was born.
Variation for dal with rice recipe:
- This recipe is gluten-free and can easily be made vegan by replacing ghee with oil
- Other than lentils, salt and turmeric all the other ingredients can be optional
- Skip spinach or substitute it with baby kale, frozen spinach or kale
- To make pot in pot brown rice, increase the pressure cook time to 22 minutes
No Tempering in this dal?
Yes, cumin seeds are much more forgiving than mustard seeds that need to be heated and popped in hot oil. Cumin seeds on the other hand can be added raw to dal or rice and they meld perfectly well with the other ingredients to make a well-balanced dish. Hence a perfect spice to add to your dump and ready recipes.
Here is an easy step-by-step recipe on how to make this easy spinach dal and rice:
Add all the ingredients for the dal except the spinach to the Instant Pot insert. Add rice, water and salt in the stainless steel pan and place the pan over the tall trivet and start pressure cooking.
Allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release and then open the Instant Pot. Thin out the dal to the consistency you like by adding more water, stir in the spinach, bring the lentils to a gentle boil on Sauté mode.
I love the convenience of pre washed boxed baby spinach. Although you can add it with the lentils and pressure cook, I like to stir it in after the pressure cooking is done so that the spinach retains the bright green color. You can add a handful(photo below on the left) or the entire box(photo on the right)
Enjoy the hot dal served over rice and some homemade ghee! This dal be made ahead and freezes well.
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Spinach Dal with Rice, a favorite Indian lentils soup with an easy dump and done Instant Pot recipe.
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 green chili chopped
- 4 garlic cloves or 1 tablespoon garlic chopped
- 4 curry leaves optional
- 1 plum tomato diced
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 cup red lentils
- 4 ounces baby spinach
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1.5 cups water
- Add ghee, cumin, turmeric, green chili, garlic, curry leaves, tomatoes, lentils, salt and water. Give a quick stir.
- Place the tall trivet inside the pot. Add rice, salt and 1.5 cups of water to the stainless steel pot and place it over the trivet.
Close the Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Select Pressure Cook(Hi) and adjust the cook time to 5 mins. Allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release and then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the Instant Pot and carefully take out the rice bowl and the trivet.
Mix the lentils with a spatula. Add more water, to bring the lentils to desired consistency. Dal will thicken as it cools. Add chopped Spinach and mix well. Cook on Sauté mode until the daal comes to gentle boil.
Enjoy hot with steamed basmati rice.
Recipe Video
- Substitute masoor daal with moong daal or toor daal.
- You can also make daal without pot in pot rice.
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Author: Archana
Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
Thank you! I appreciate your recipes!!
You are most welcome!