November 19, 2021

Palak Patal Bhaji – Spinach Yogurt Curry

Name: Palak Patal Bhaji - Spinach Yogurt Curry
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 40 min
Ingredients: 3 cups Spinach (triple washed, finely chopped); 3-4 Green chillies; 1/4 cup Yellow pigeon peas/Toor dal (triple washed); 2 tbsp Split chickpeas/Chana dal; 3 tbsp Chickpea flour/Besan; 3 tbsp Peanuts (raw); 1/2 cup Yogurt (low fat); 1 tsp Cumin seeds; 1/4 tsp Asafoetida/Hing; 1 tbsp Ghee; 1 1/4 tsp Salt or as required

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Palak Patal Bhaji is a mildly spicy Maharashtrian curry made with spinach. It is also called takatli palak bhaji in Marathi. Palak patal bhaji is a very delicious, simple, and easy to make recipe. It makes a perfect choice to enjoy it with some plain rice or roti.

This bhaji is a kind of dal made with spinach, yogurt, chickpea flour, toor dal, chana dal, and peanuts. It is a very nutritious, healthy, and soul-satisfying meal option on busy weekdays. It is an everyday meal loaded with various nutrients, protein, and iron. I try to include this recipe 3-4 times in a month as my husband enjoys this bhaji so much.

My mother in law makes one of the best palak patal bhaji ever. She makes this recipe on a regular basis and includes this dish when offering meals to God on festivals. On Ganesh chaturthi, she combines this dish with batata bhaji, matki usal, koshimbir, ukadiche modak, varan-bhaat, and roti.

I am sharing her recipe in this post using an instant pot for cooking the ingredients. You can use a regular Indian pressure cooker as well. You can cook plain rice in the same pressure cooker in a different container while cooking the ingredients of patal bhaji. It will save a lot of energy and time 🙂

Sometimes, I cook spinach over the stovetop and the rest of the ingredients in the pressure cooker. Peanuts and chana dal are soaked in water and later cooked with the other ingredients in the pressure cooker. Peanuts are the star of this recipe, you can completely skip adding chana dal in the recipe if you wish.

I like to use ghee in the tempering as it gives the best taste to the dish but any vegetable oil works well in this recipe. To give palak patal bhaji a different flavor, I like to add garlic cloves in the tempering that tastes so good.

Ingredients

Spinach
Green chillies
Yellow pigeon peas/Toor dal
Split chickpeas/Chana dal
Chickpea flour/Besan
Peanuts
Yogurt
Cumin seeds
Asafoetida
Ghee
Salt

Palak Patal Bhaji Step By Step Recipe

In a small steel container, soak peanuts and chana dal with ½ cup water for 15 minutes. Discard the water and add another ½ cup fresh water.

Place the chopped spinach in a steel container, combine the triple washed toor dal, and add 1.5 cups of water.

Instant Pot Method

In the inner pot of the Instant Pot, add 1 cup of water and place a trivet.

Place the spinach container and cover it with a steel lid, then place the soaked peanuts container.

Close the lid, making sure the valve is set to sealing.

Turn on the MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK button (High Pressure) and set the timer to 13 minutes.

Let the pressure naturally release (NRP) for 12-15 minutes.

Indian Pressure Cooker Method

Cook everything in the same way as the Instant Pot method in an Indian pressure cooker. Pressure cook it for 3 whistles and let the pressure release naturally.

Next, separate the water from the spinach container. Mash the spinach and dal very well with a spoon. Add chickpea flour, yogurt, salt, and mix it well.

Combine the chana dal, peanuts, separated water, and mix everything really well – you can add less water if you want patal bhaji a little thick.

In a pan, heat some ghee, add cumin seeds, and let them crackle.

Next, add asafoetida and chopped green chillies.

Add spinach mixture and mix everything well for 2-3 minutes.

Let the mixture boil very well for 8-10 minutes and serve.

Tips For Making Palak Patal Bhaji

Triple washing the spinach with ample water to remove all the dirt and finely chopping it before cooking is very important.
After cooking the spinach, make sure to separate the water, and mash the spinach and toor dal very well before combining the besan. It will help to blend everything well and gives an amazing taste to bhaji.

Variations

You can cook the spinach on the stovetop after adding ghee and cumin seeds for about 4-5 minutes.
Skip adding chana dal in the recipe if you wish but I will highly recommend adding raw peanuts which will enhance the taste of this dish.
You can use any vegetable oil in this dish if you like.
To add some garlicky flavor to the dish, you can slice 3-4 cloves of garlic and sauté them for 10 seconds after adding cumin seeds. It tastes so good.
Instead of low fat yogurt, you can add full fat yogurt or buttermilk in the recipe.
I have garnished the dish by adding some tempering made with ghee, cumin seeds, and dry red chillies. I have also roasted a few raw peanuts with 2 drops of oil for 3-4 minutes for garnishing the dish.

How To Store Palak Patal Bhaji?

Palak Patal bhaji tastes best when served hot and fresh.

It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days in an airtight container.

How To Serve Palak Patal Bhaji?

Serve this bhaji with roti or any Indian flat bread.

You can serve patal bhaji along with dry garlic chutney, carrot koshimbir, jowar or bajra roti, plain rice, and with any Indian dry curry to make a wholesome meal.

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I will love to hear from you!