Dal Palak or Spinach with Yellow Lentils

"Dal Palak" or Spinach in Yellow lentils is a very easy dish to make, especially on festival days like Krishna Janmashtami where the dinner is a fairly grand affair and involves lot of cooking, so you need to cook a lunch that does not contain Onion or Garlic, is very easy, quick to make, and also gives you energy to spend hours in the kitchen.

So today I made this Dal Palak and had it as a side-dish with Rotis/Chapatis.
Yellow lentils are an excellent source of fibre and protein, vitamins and minerals.
Spinach as we all know, contains Iron which is good for those who suffer from anemia. Its also helps to lower blood pressure, build immunity, helps fight cardiovascular diseases, and helps in maintaining a healthy brain and nervous system.
Serves 3
Ingredients:

Toor dal or Yellow Lentils - 1 cup

(you could use red lentils too)
Spinach - 1 bunch
Tomato - finely chopped - 1
Cumin seeds or Jeera - 1 tsp
Hing or Asafoetida - 1 tsp
Red chilly powder - 1 tsp
Coriander powder - 1 tsp
Garam Masala powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee or oil - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Coriander leaves - chopped - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash the dal/lentils well and boil in cooker with 2 cups of water for about 20 minutes till they are soft and well cooked.
Wash and clean the spinach, keep the stalks too, and finely chop the spinach leaves and stalks and keep aside.
Take a heavy bottomed pan, keep on low heat, add oil or ghee, when its slightly hot after about 20 seconds, add the cumin seeds or jeera and allow to crackle, now add the hing or Asafoetida and fry for 10 seconds till you get a nice aroma.
Now add the red chilly powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder and fry for another 10 seconds, and then add in the chopped tomatoes and salt and fry till tomatoes are soft and mushy and oil begins to separate.
Add in the chopped palak or spinach and fry for about a minute.
Now add the boiled dal along with the water it was boiled in, and mix well.
Bring to boil, check the salt and add more if required. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve hot with Rotis or rice.