A spinach dhal curry cooked in coconut milk and tempered Sri Lankan style.

Spinach with dhal is another popular quick vegetarian curry you can try for a healthier meal plan.

A Dhal/lentil dish is the most basic of curries that everyone learns to cook early on.

With just 20 minutes, you can serve this spinach and dal curry over a bowl of rice and poppadams for a quick and simple meatless meal.

It’s a time-saving, versatile dish that really does come in handy when you need a budget-friendly yet wholesome meal to feed a family.

Cooked using red lentils, a few tempering ingredients, spinach and coconut milk, this creamy spinach and dal curry makes a perfect budget-friendly side dish for your meals.

How to add variety to your everyday dhal curry.

You can do this by adding various root vegetables into the dhal curry that will compliment the dish.

such as,

• Diced carrots add texture to the smooth and creamy dish.
• Add a few cubed Cucumbers.
• Potatoes are a great add-on as well.

And then I make this Spinach and dhal curry in which I completely reduce the coconut milk gravy.

I add more than the usual amount of chilli fleck followed by spinach leaves so they wilt with the remaining heat.
Love it!

Just like the Carrot and Bean(image above) curry, this dish is a great way to get your kids to eat their greens.

A word of caution though, if you are serving younger kids make sure to choose baby spinach so they can consume the leaves easily.

for this recipe, I’ve used large Spinach leaves that were a problem for my youngest to handle but easier for the older ones.

What to serve with dhal spinach curry recipe.

• Main dish to serve with this dhal recipe with spinach.
  • how to cook rice on the stove.
  • Sri Lankan Yellow Rice(turmeric rice)
  • Sri Lankan pol roti(coconut roti, flatbread).
  • Sri Lankan tuna filling stuffed coconut roti(pol roti).
  • Stovetop Naan bread( Indian Naan bread)

• Poultry
  • chicken rendang(rendang Ayam)
  • Sri Lankan chicken curry.
  • kalupol-Sri Lankan chicken curry(spicy black chicken curry).
  • chicken Chettinad curry with gravy.
• Seafood
  • devilled prawns(Sri Lankan)
  • Sri Lankan red chilli fish curry(Thalapath malu mirisata).
  • canned mackerel fish stir-fry(Sri Lankan).
  • Canned tuna fish stir-fry(devilled). or canned mackerel fish stir-fry(Sri Lankan).

• Sambols, mallums and salads to serve with dhal spinach curry.
  • Sri Lankan pol sambol(Coconut Sambol).
  • Parsley salad(sambol)with coconut.
  • Bitter gourd fry(Sri Lankan karawila sambol)
  • gotu kola(pennywort salad)sambol.

Search more options browsing through the blog.

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Frequently asked questions: dhal curry with spinach.

• Growing your own Spinach, can you?
  • I’m no gardener, in fact, everything I plant tends to sadly die but I can tell you without a doubt that Spinach is easy to grow.
    I have a large garden and there have been times just a stalk that I’ve thrown takes root and grows along the ground, they just need to get their long vines attached to something solid and they grow fast.
• So next time you buy your Spinach from the local farmers market, see if you can get them with the stalk and try growing them in your garden.

• Can I use frozen spinach to make the vegetarian/vegan dish?
  • Yes, you can use frozen spinach.

Utensils and appliances used.

• Chopping board and knife
• Bowl.
• Skillet or frying pan.

More Dhal curry recipes

Sri Lankan Dhal curry(parippu, dal, daal).

Spicy Sri Lankan chilli dhal fry(vegetarian, vegan).

How to make easy-pressure cooker dal tadka(Indian dhal fry).

More recipes with spinach.

Spinach coconut salad(mallum)
Healthy sauteed spinach stir fry
Spinach and garlic coconut milk curry.

Storing- once the Spinach and dhal curry is cooled, store them in glass or plastic containers. best consumed within 24 hours. refrigerate any leftovers and consume within 2 days.

Freezing-avoid freezing as the texture of spinach and dhal will be affected.

Reheating– can be microwaved for 2-3 minutes but cover to avoid splatter. heat over a low-medium fire.

Stop food waste by this spinach and dhal curry goes a long way so cook only as much as you need.

RECIPE DIFFICULTY-EASY

Sri Lankan dhal curry Spinach (tempered)

The ingredients mentioned below use standard measuring cups and spoons.

The Ingredients to make spinach dhal curry

To cook the dhal

1 cup red lentils

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 cup water

For tempering

3-4 tablespoons of Oil

A handful of curry leaves(substitute with a bay leaf)

3 garlic cloves finely sliced

1 large onion finely sliced

1 teaspoon of mustard seeds

1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder

1 teaspoon of chilli flecks

1 cup of coconut milk

Bundle of spinach washed and leaves picked.

Method

Rinse the dhal/ lentil(1 cup), and strain.

Add them to a medium-sized pan, pour in the water(1 cup), add turmeric powder(1/4 tsp) and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Cook the dhal until they turn soft for 10-15 minutes. Set aside.

Place a small skillet or frying pan over medium heat.

Pour in the oil(3-4 tbsp), add the curry leaves(a sprig), followed by garlic(3 cloves), onions(1), and turmeric powder(1/4 tsp).

Sauté for 3-4 minutes until the onions turn golden brown. 5 minutes.

Include the Mustard seed(1 tsp) and chilli flecks(1 tsp), sauté further until the mustard seeds splutter make sure the chilli fleck doesn’t burn. 1-2 minutes.

Transfer the cooked tempering onto the cooked red lentil(dhal).

Pour in the coconut milk(1 cup)and cook on a low-medium fire for 7-10 minutes.

Stir to make sure the ingredients are mixed together taste and season with salt as needed.

Add the spinach leaves and cook until they wilt, 3 minutes over medium heat.

Remove spinach dal pan from fire and serve warm.

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