Kale curry Indian recipe (kale dal curry with yellow spit pigeon peas) is very easy to follow recipe that is simple and you can make very delicious kal dal curry which can be used as a yummy and simple side dish with rice, chapathi, poori, dosa or idli with breakfast lunch or dinner.
This kale curry Indian recipe is a vegetarian/vegan curry and it is very healthy as well.
This kale dal curry can be used as a healthy protein rich kale dal soup as well if you like to enjoy dahls as soups.
If you like recipes using kale leaves, also try this easy, delicious kale chickpea curry in instant pot!
I used baby kale to prepare this Indian style kale curry, but you can also use regular kale (you may have to chop the regular kale a bit if you wish).
This is so easy to make with the baby kale leaves as you just need to wash the kale and cook the curry in a pressure cooker along with the dal.
To make this I caramelized an onion and added to the cooked kale dale curry, which made it more delicious.
I recommend not skipping the caramelized onions in this kale dal curry recipe as it really makes the curry more delicious and add much flavor to this dish where we didn’t use any curry powder or garam masala powder.
I have this spinach masala dal curry which also goes as a great side dish with rice for lunch or dinner.
This is a kale dal curry Indian recipe without masala or curry powder, that is why I mentioned it is very simple and mild dish but very delicious at the same time.
So here is how I made this easy kale dal curry following this kale curry Indian recipe.
You may buy yellow pigeon peas here to make this kale dal curry.
How to make Indian kale dal curry?
To make Indian style kale leaves dal curry, we use the following ingredients.
ingredients to make kale dal curry
1 small bunch baby kale leaves (or kale leaves chopped)
1.5 cups toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
1 large onion
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon red chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
5 dry red chilies (broken)
3 tablespoons oil
½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
4 cups water
Step by step instructions
Wash the baby kale leaves very well, drain the water and dry, keep aside. If you are using regular kale leaves, you can wash and roughly chop the leaves if you like.
Wash the toor dal (yellow pigeon peas), drain the water and keep aside.
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pressure cooker and fry the cumin seeds.
Once the cumin seeds are fried, add the broken dried red chilies and fry for a few seconds.
Add the kale leaves and saute for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Add the yellow pigeon peas and saute for another 1 minute.
Add salt, garlic powder and saute for another 1 more minute.
Add water and all spices to the pressure cooker, stir well to mix all contents.
Close the pressure cooker with lid and safety valve and cook the contents for about 10 minutes after the steam comes or about 3 whistles.
After 10 minutes of cooking, switch off the stove and wait for the pressure cooker to cool down.
Peel and chop the onion.
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the chopped onions.
Saute the onions until they are caramelized (for best results) which may take a while, but it is very well worth the efforts.
If you don’t have enough time to caramelize the onion, I recommend to saute them at least till they are transparent on lightly browned, which may take around 7 to 8 minutes. Keep the caramelized or browned onions aside.
Once the pressure cooker is cool enough, you can open the cooker and see if the toor dal or the pigeon peas is cooked enough and soft and if you have enough gravy for the dish.
Mix the contents very well and you can gently mash the contents using a ladle if you like.
If the dal is cooked really soft, this is not needed. In case you think gravy is less for you, feel free to add a little more water at this point, and heat for another 2 minutes.
Add the caramelized onions to the kale dal curry and gently mix the curry so the onions will mix with the dal making it more yummy and flavorful.
Below you can get the recipe for kale dal curry in detail.
Kale Dal Curry – Indian Dal Fry With Kale Leaves
Ingredients
- 1 small bunch baby kale leaves (or kale leaves chopped)
- 1.5 cups toor dal (yellow pigeon peas)
- 1 large onion
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 5 dry red chilies (broken)
- 3 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon salt adjust to taste
- 4 cups water
Instructions
- Wash the baby kale leaves very well, drain the water and dry, keep aside. If you are using regular kale leaves, you can wash and roughly chop the leaves if you like.
- Wash the toor dal (yellow pigeon peas), drain the water and keep aside.
- Heat one tablespoon of oil in a pressure cooker and fry the cumin seeds.
- Once the cumin seeds are fried, add the broken dried red chilies and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the kale leaves and saute for about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the yellow pigeon peas and saute for another 1 minute.
- Add salt, garlic powder and saute for another 1 more minute.
- Add water and all spices to the pressure cooker, stir well to mix all contents.
- Close the pressure cooker with lid and safety valve and cook the contents for about 10 minutes after the steam comes or about 3 whistles.
- After 10 minutes of cooking, switch off the stove and wait for the pressure cooker to cool down.
- Peel and chop the onion.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the chopped onions.
- Saute the onions until they are caramelized (for best results) which may take a while, but it is very well worth the efforts. If you don’t have enough time to caramelize the onion, I recommend to saute them at least till they are transparent on lightly browned, which may take around 7 to 8 minutes. Keep the caramelized or browned onions aside.
- Once the pressure cooker is cool enough, you can open the cooker and see if the toor dal or the pigeon peas is cooked enough and soft and if you have enough gravy for the dish. Mix the contents very well and you can gently mash the contents using a ladle if you like. If the dal is cooked really soft, this is not needed. In case you think gravy is less for you, feel free to add a little more water at this point, and heat for another 2 minutes.
- Add the caramelized onions to the kale dal curry and gently mix the curry so the onions will mix with the dal making it more yummy and flavorful.
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