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A comforting and nutritious Odia dal made with roasted moong dal and fresh spinach. This wholesome dish is lightly spiced and finished with a traditional panch phutana tempering, making it a perfect everyday meal with rice.
Roast and Cook the Dal
Prepare the Spinach Masala
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A comforting and nutritious Odia dal made with roasted moong dal and fresh spinach. This wholesome dish is lightly spiced and finished with a traditional panch phutana tempering, making it a perfect everyday meal with rice.
This odia recipe takes 40 minutes to prepare and yields 4 servings. At 286.72 calories per serving with 15.05g of protein, it's a beginner-friendly recipe perfect for lunch or dinner.
Combine and Simmer
Prepare the Tempering (Chhunka)
Finish and Serve
Add diced vegetables like pumpkin, radish, or drumsticks along with the dal in the pressure cooker for a more wholesome version called 'Dalma'.
You can substitute spinach with other traditional Odia greens like amaranth leaves (khada saga) or Malabar spinach (poi saga).
For a version without onion and garlic, simply skip them and proceed with the recipe. The flavor will be different but still delicious, relying more on the ginger and tempering.
Increase the number of green chilies or add a pinch of red chili powder along with the turmeric for extra heat.
Moong dal is an excellent source of plant-based protein, which is essential for muscle repair, cell growth, and overall body function.
Spinach is packed with iron, a mineral crucial for forming hemoglobin, which transports oxygen in the blood. This helps combat fatigue and anemia.
The combination of moong dal and spinach provides a high amount of dietary fiber, which aids in digestion, prevents constipation, and supports a healthy gut microbiome.
This dal is rich in vitamins A and C from spinach and tomatoes, and contains antioxidants from spices like turmeric, which help strengthen the immune system.
One serving of Saga Muga (approximately 1 cup or 375g) contains around 285 calories, making it a light yet filling dish. The exact count can vary based on the amount of ghee used.
Yes, Saga Muga is very healthy. It's a balanced dish rich in plant-based protein from moong dal, and vitamins and minerals like iron and folate from spinach. It is also high in dietary fiber, which aids digestion.
Pancha Phutana is a whole spice blend from Eastern India, containing equal parts of fenugreek, nigella, cumin, black mustard, and fennel seeds. It's essential for the authentic Odia flavor. If you can't find it, a mix of mustard seeds and cumin seeds is a basic substitute, though the flavor profile will be different.
Absolutely. You can cook the roasted and rinsed dal in a deep pot with a lid. It will take longer, about 30-40 minutes, for the dal to become completely soft. You may need to add more water as it cooks.
While Saga Muga is traditionally made with roasted moong dal, you can use toor dal (arhar dal) or a mix of moong and masoor dal. However, the unique nutty flavor comes specifically from roasting the moong dal.