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Bored of having the usual dal for your everyday meal try our palak masoor dal recipe, the unbeatable combination of masoor dal with spinach nourishes your body with proteins, iron and folic acid.

The palak masoor dal recipe is extremely quick and easy to cook and also the preparation doesn't take much time as you do not require to chop much vegetables. To make low cholesterol palak masoor dal, wash and soak the masoor dal in enough water for an hour. Drain and discard the water. Combine the masoor dal, ginger-green chilli paste, turmeric powder and 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 2 whistles. The process of adding green chilli paste will give a unique and amazing flavour to our palak masoor dal. Further, heat the oil in a deep non-stick pan, add the cumin seeds and the cardamom. When the seeds crackle, add the asafoetida, dry red chillies, curry leaves and garlic and sauté on a medium flame for a few seconds. Asafoetida is important as dals and pulses are hard to digest and it will help in digesting them. Add the cooked dal mixture, tamarind pulp, 1 cup of water, spinach and salt, mix well and cook on a medium flame for 1 to 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally. Our palak with masoor dal is ready to be relished.

Is  Palak Masoor Dal healthy?

Yes, this is healthy. But restrictions apply to some.

Let's understand the Ingredients.

What's good.

1. Spinach (Palak) : Spinach is one of the richest plant sources of Iron and it should be part of a healthy diet for everyone.  Raw spinach is very rich in insoluble fibre, 25% having soluble fiber and 75% insoluble fiber.  Spinach is good for the heart, diabetics and eyes. Read this on the 17 benefits of spinach and why you should eat it. 

2. Masoor Dal  (split red lentils), Whole Massor : 1 cup off cooked Masoor dal gives 19 grams of protein. Being rich in Phosphorus it works with Calcium to build our bones.  Whole Masoor or masoor dal is rich in Folate, Vitamin B9 or Folic Acid which helps your body to produce and maintain new cells, especially red blood cells. Masoor dal is is good for diabetics and a healthy heart. See detailed 10 health benefits of masoor dal. 

3. Garlic : Garlic has been proven to lower cholesterol. The active ingredient allicin present in garlic aids in lowering blood pressure. Garlic is also alleged to help regulate blood glucose levels for diabetics. Garlic is great for the heart and circulatory system. Garlic has an antimicrobial, antiviral and antifungal function and can help in relieving common cold and other viral infections. To boost your immune system have a garlic clove a day. Garlic is a top anti viral food. The thiosulphate compound, Allicin found in garlic acts as a strong antioxidant and protects our body from damage of free radicals.  Read here for complete benefits of garlic. 

4. Imli (Tamarind) : Tamarind is good for heart due to the fibre present which has a cholesterol lowering effect. It is also good for diabetics. But too much tamarind is bad for health. 

Can diabetics, heart patients and over weight individuals have Palak Masoor Dal?

Yes, this recipe is good for diabetics, heart and weight loss.

Can healthy individuals have Palak Masoor Dal?

Palak Masoor Dal – A Healthy Accompaniment for Healthy Heart

1.      Palak and Masoor Dal both the ingredients are rich in folic acid a type of B vitamin which has a role in Homocysteine metabolism and its break does in body. High levels of homocysteine otherwise have often being recognized as one of the root cause of heart disease. This dal is good to increase your folic acid for pregnant women.  

2.      Masoor is also a good source of phosphorus and magnesium, both of which help in maintaining normal heartbeat.

3.      Masoor Dal is rich in iron too. A good amount of iron in body ensures a proper supply of oxygen and nutrients to all parts of the body including heart. Good for an iron rich dal to have for dinner. 

4.      This recipes for  heart patients who have pre-existing diabetes too can enjoy this Palak Masoor Dal. 

5. Low glycemic index recipe using  masoor dal (25) makes it suitable for weight loss dal and low glycemic index dinner. 

6.      Obese people looking forward to a healthy lifestyle and a healthy heart can also welcome this healthy addition to their meals. Not very high in calories and fat but providing good amount of protein and fiber along with many other micronutrients are what they usually target. This Palak Masoor Dal helps them achieve their target. 

8 Pointers to get healthy on a Indian diet

1. Eat healthy and say yes to good home cooked food. Prefer whole grains like oatmeal, quinoa, buckwheat, barley and healthy flours like bajra flour, jowar flour, quinoa flour, wheat flour etc. rather than refined ones like maida. Have healthy Indian fats like ghee, coconut, coconut oil in your diet.

2. Opt out of junk food, packaged food, deep fried foods. Prefer steamed snacks and other non-fried snacks. Check out some Healthy Indian Snacks. Remember to eat small frequent meals through the day as that will keep you always full and prevent your blood sugar from dropping. By starving your body through some diet, will not help you one bit. In fact, dieting will make you binge on 2 to 3 meals which is not good. 

Skip having Indian junk foods like pav bhaji, bata vada, pakoras, gulab jamun as they cause your body to have insulance resistance. The resultant is your body will store more carbohydrates as fats, causing storage of fat in the stomach causing a paunch and slowing down of our fat burning process. So its a bad cyle which causes you more more hunger and fatigue every time you eat junk food. 

3. Have 4 to 5 servings of vegetables and 2 to 3 servings of fruit is a must. Follow the logic of a vegetable in each main meal of the day and a fruit in-between meals. Check out a few Healthy Indian Soups and Healthy Indian Salads  recipes using this food group.           

4. Cut down on sugar and salt in your diet and pick honey ( very small amounts) or dates to sweeten your food. Slowly cut the sugar habit as this is not going to happen over night. Sugar  is also called white poison. It is a simple carbohydrate with zero nutritional value. On intake, sugar will cause inflammation of the body which will last for many hours. It will spike your blood sugar level and shut down the fat burning process. This also causes high blood sugar levels in your body. The development of prediabetes comes from uncontrolled eating sugar and refined food products for many years and the classic symptom is if you have excess belly fat. This leads to diabetes and further onwards to heart attack, high blood pressure, strokes, impotence and kidney damage. 

Salt and blood pressure. Apart from stress and obesity, one of the main reasons for high blood pressure is excessive sodium and salt intake. Most people find it difficult to limit the amount of salt in their cooking, thinking it will affect the taste of their favourite dishes. 

This is not true. Bajra and jowar are rich in potassium and critical for those with High Blood Pressure as it lessens the impact of sodium. Eating more Potassium Rich Foods will remove more sodium from your body through urine. So include the basic bajra roti and jowar roti in your daily diet to have with Lower Blood Pressure Subzis Recipes. 

5. Befriend a few healthy seeds and nuts like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, walnuts and almonds. 

6.  Sprouts are called ‘living food’. They are high is most nutrients and easy to digest as well. Let them feature in your meals at least thrice a week. Also Read : All Benefits about Sprouts. 

7.  Exercise 45 minutes every day. No excuse. You can walk fast, run, do weights, play your favourite sport or go to the gym. No activity reduces muscle tissue which will lead to muscke loss and all kinds of problems with that. 

8.  Sleep early and get up early. Get your body into rhythm and it will function best. Sleep helps your body to recover and makes you look much younger. Also getting good sleep prevent muscle loss. 

Palak Masoor Dal is high in

1. Vitamin A : Vitamin A is crucial for healthy vision, cell growth and healthy skin. 

Note : a recipe is deemed high in a Vitamin or mineral if it meets 20% and above the recommended daily allowance based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

How to burn 86 calories that come from Palak Masoor Dal?

Walking (6 kmph) = 26 mins

Running (11 kmph) = 9 mins

Cycling (30 kmph) = 11 mins          

Swimming (2 kmph) = 15 mins

Note: These values are approximate and calorie burning differs in each individual.