Healthy, nutritious kale dal is Indian style lentils and kale. Toor dal and kale are cooked together and mildly seasoned with red and green chilies. A delicious and comforting main dish or a side dish that is served over rice or with flatbreads.
It is an easy, under 30 minutes, gluten free recipe and cooks well both in an electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) and on stovetop. A recipe to have on your weekday menu and, with washed and chopped kale, the preparation is even faster.
This post was originally published in March 2011. Republished with new content and images.
Table of contents
Dal with Greens
It is quite common to cook pulses with green leafy vegetables in Indian cuisine with slight variations across the regions. Spinach dal is the most common preparation which is similar to methi spinach dal.
Regardless of the greens and the lentils used, preparation is standard. First cook dal, do a tadka (tempering), cook the greens in it and pour it over cooked dal. Or cook the greens along with the dal and finish it off with a tadka.
Consistency of kale pappu depends on how it is served. When pairing dal dal with a dry curry or a stir fry, make it runny. Chicken curry, shrimp curry and potato fry are a few suggestions. When serving with some tomato rasam or miryala charu make it thick.
Regardless of the consistency, serve it with with rice and/or roti. Pappu is a comfort food and a major source of protein for many Indians. When using greens, do add some tomato or lemon juice or any vitamin rich ingredient.
Iron Rich Kale
Kale is rich in iron. It is non heme and human body can not easily absorb the iron. Hence always prepare or serve with vitamin C rich food such as tomatoes and lime, or with meats, for easy absorption. Kale itself is a powerhouse of vitamin C.
Besides iron and vitamin C, kale is also a good source of vitamin A, K, fiber and minerals, making it a super food. It is rich in antioxidants, has substances that could lower cholesterol and many other health benefits.
Baked kale chips is one of the best ways to consume it. Kale mullang and white beans sausage kale soup are few recipes I make. For A-Z iron rich ingredients series, for alphabet ‘K’, the ingredient is kale. Here are a few recipes from the series.
Ingredients
- Toor Dal – For kale dal I prefer toor dal and you can prepare it with moong dal, masoor dal (orange color) and chana dal. Both moong and masoor dal cook fast and chana dal takes same time as toor dal to cook.
- Kale – Use the leaves and thin, tender stalks of kale. Substitute with any spinach, Swiss chards or any greens that you like.
- Lime/Lemon – Use lime or lemon juice for little bit of tang and also for the body to absorb non heme iron from kale. Good substitutes are tomatoes and raw green mangoes.
- Chilies – I use both red and green chilies. You can skip one or the other or use both.
- Tempering – Oil and/or ghee (skip ghee if vegan), cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves, onions, crushed garlic, turmeric powder.
Preparation
Wash and cook toor dal with chopped green chilies, cumin and oil. Crushed garlic, curry leaves and kotmir/cilantro are optional ingredients (images #1-2). You cook dal in a saucepan or in a pressure cooker. In a saucepan it takes 45- minutes to one hour.
In Instant Pot, pressure cook (manual setting) for 8 minutes and naturally release pressure (image #3). On stovetop pressure cooker, cook for 7 whistles, then 3-5 minutes on low flame and then naturally release pressure.
Open the pressure cooker, lightly mash the dal with a back of the spoon (image #4). If you prefer firm dal, do not mash dal.
In a pan heat oil, roast red chilies & curry leaves, let cumin and mustard seeds splutter (image #5). Add onions (image #6) and saute until soft, lightly roast garlic and turmeric (image #7). Then add kale and saute until it reduces in half (images #8-9).
When preparing dal in IP, add the tempering to dal, mix well, add water (images #10-13) and switch IP to ‘Saute’ mode. Cover and cook until dal is done (images #12-14). When cooking on stovetop, add dal and water to wilted kale and let kale cook.
Check consistency of dal, do a taste test and adjust chili powder and salt to taste. Squeeze some lemon / lime juice and turn off the flame. Mind you dal thickens a bit as it cools. Transfer to a bowl and serve with rice or roti.
One Pot Recipe
When cooking in one pot; stovetop pressure cooker or electric pressure cooker, first prepare the tempering, add washed dal, kale, water and cook until dal is soft. Let the pressure release naturally, add water to desired consistency and simmer for few minutes, squeeze lemon juice.
Suggestions & Tips
- Dal – If using moong or masoor dal, pressure cook for 4-5 whistles or 5 minutes in IP.
- Kale – Discard the hard stalk of kale and use only the leaf and tender stalks. If using thick stalk, pressure cook along with dal.
- Substitute for Lime – Use tomato or raw green mango. You can cook these along with kale. To sneak it into dal for picky eaters, pressure cook with dal.
- Serving – Always cook or serve kale with vitamin rich food for the human body to easily absorb iron from kale. That includes lime, tomatoes and meats.
Recipes you may like
Kale Dal
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker
- Saucepan
- Knife and cutting board
Ingredients
To Cook Dal
- ½ cup Toor Dal
- 3 Green Chilies Chopped
- 1 teaspoon crushed Garlic
- Few Coriander leaves chopped
- 1 cup Water
- 1 tsp Oil
Tempering
- 1½ tablespoon Oil
- 2 Dry Red Chilies broken into two
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Cumin/Jeera Seeds
- ½ medium sized Onion diced
- 2 teaspoon crushed Garlic
- ¼ – ½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder
- 3 oz. Kale Leaves or 80 grams / 2 cups firmly packed chopped Kale
Other Ingredients
- 1½ cup Water more as needed
- ¾ teaspoon Salt adjust to taste. You may need to add more
- ¼ teaspoon Chili Powder optional and add accordingly
- 1 – 2 tablespoon Lime Juice
Instructions
Cooking Dal – Stovetop Pressure Cooker
- Wash the dal and pressure cook it with green chilies, garlic, cilantro and 1 cup of water until soft. In my pressure cook it takes 7 whistles and then 3-4 minutes on low flame to fully cook the dal.
- Once the dal is cooked, let the pressure release from the cooker, before opening it.
Cooking Dal – Instant Pot (IP) or Electric Pressure Cooker
- Take dal and all the ingredients listed under 'To Cook Dal' and pressure cook for 8 minutes. That is Pressure Cook / Manual mode. Let pressure release naturally.
Rest of the Preparation
- While the dal is cooking, pluck the leaves and discard the stems from the bunch of kale. Wash the leaves and chop it. Cut the rest of the ingredients required for the preparation.
- In a sauce pan or a frying pan, heat oil for tempering. Add red chilies, cumin seeds, mustard seeds, curry leaves and let the seeds splutter.
- Add onion and sauté for a minute until the onions are translucent.
- Add garlic, turmeric powder, salt and sauté well.
- Add kale leaves and sauté for a minute or two, until the leaves shrink into almost half the original quantity.
- Add the dal and mix well. Add water and cook on medium flame for 8-10 minutes until the kale is fully cooked. If using IP, add the tempering to dal, switch to Suate mode and follow rest of the steps.
- Add lime juice and cook for another 2-4 minutes and turn of the heat.
- Serve with steaming rice with a dollop of ghee or with some rasam. This dal will go well with roties too.
Video
Notes
- Dal – I use toor dal but you can use moong, masoor or chana dal.
- Kale – Discard the hard stalk of kale and use only the leaf and tender stalks. If using thick stalk, pressure cook along with dal.
- Ghee – This is a vegan recipe and if dairy is ok, use half oil and half ghee.
- Lime Substitute – Use 1 big tomato or 1 cup of chopped raw green mango.
- Consistency – Adjust the consistency depending on how you serve. Make it thick and serve with rasam or make it semi liquid. Both go well with rice and roti.
- Nutrition – Values mentioned are approximate.
Nutrition
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This post was originally published in March 2011. Republished with new content and images.
Radha says
This is often made in our home and a comforting one with rice. Yours sounds absolutely delicious!
Suma Gandlur says
Somehow I haven’t used much of kale because of it’s strong taste. The dal with greens sounds comforting to me any given day and your dal bowl looks inviting.
Vaishali says
I normally make a similar dal palak! Kale is a recent addition to Indian market and not easily available .
The dal looks healthy and delicious, will try with kale once I lay my hands on it.
Padma says
nice katori… looks like kadai kada… kale dal nenu kuda chesta.. nice and drooling photo Usha
Malli's Mint and Mimosas says
Dal is another form of comfort food for me… and yours is really way up there with the kale mmm—good, creamy and oh so comforting to look at with that chilli on top:)
Priya says
Thick kale dal looks comforting and inviting..
Vidhya jayadeep says
Kale is our favorite green but I haven’t tried it this way.This look so delicious and easy.Going to try this soon.
Umm Mymoonah says
Perfect comfort dish to represent Indian Cuisine, looks yumm. Thank you for sending it to AWED 🙂
sayantani says
lovely recipe…one of my fav dals.