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Instant Pot Spinach Dal or as it is popularly called in India - Dal Palak. This is a comforting lentil soup with spinach mixed in it for extra nutrition. Making this in the pressure cooker is a snap. Enjoy it with basmati rice or as a soup. This is a Vegan & gluten-free recipe.

I love this lentil soup as it packs the nutrition of lentils and spinach in a single bowl. I used split pigeon peas or Toor dal, which packs 20gms of protein in 1 cup of cooked dal. Spinach provides a variety of vitamins and minerals. Give this dal a try and I am sure you will make it again...and again!

I used Toor dal or Split pigeon peas for this recipe. You can vary the lentils you use - masoor dal or red lentils or a combination of these.

Don't forget to check out my post for 29 Best Instant Pot Vegetarian Recipes.

How to make Spinach Dal in Instant Pot?

Start with heating ghee or oil in the instant pot insert and add the tempering ingredients - cumin seeds, ginger, garlic and green chilies. I usually use homemade ghee when making dal, but for a vegan variation use any plant based oil.

Then add the tomatoes and spices. Then the washed lentils. Now we are ready to pressure cook for 3 minutes at high pressure.

I add spinach after the lentils are cooked. Lentils take longer to cook and I don't like my spinach overcooked, so I add it after cooking the lentils.

When the pressure cooking is done, open the instant pot lid and add the chopped spinach and garam masala. Stir well and let it simmer until the lentils comes to a boil, about 2 minutes. At this time, the spinach would have mixed well with the lentils.

How to make Dal Palak in Pressure Cooker?

Traditionally, Dal was cooked with salt, then tempering was done separately in a pan. Here I suggest a one-pot method, so the dal and tempering with ginger, garlic, tomatoes cooks along with the lentils.

The main difference from the above method for instant pot is the pressure cooking time on stovetop. We will pressure cook on high flame until two whistles, then switch off the flame. Then let the pressure release naturally by itself. Everything else remains the same.

You can add some lemon juice for a tangy taste. Enjoy the Spinach Dal with rice or just as a soup. I had this spinach dal with rice and then leftovers the next day as a soup.

Try this Spinach Dal and let me know how it turned out. Leave a comment below.

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