Kale Tomato Dal

4.25 from 4 votes

Lentils cooked with kale, tomato and spices. This humble Kale Tomato Dal is comfort food at it's best! Vegan and gluten-free.

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Simple and lightly spiced Kale Tomato Dal is a mix of lentils cooked with tomatoes & kale. This simple dal tastes great with plain rice. It’s also vegan and gluten-free.

kale tomato dal

So Holi is done and I am literally stuffed. Indian festivals always revolve around food and each and every thing made on these days is either sweet or fried. There’s nothing else to eat! For the last 3 days, I have been eating gujiya and mathri like crazy. And then I had kachori for dinner, dahi vada for snacking, I mean talk about “eating unhealthy”!

After so much of fried stuff, I definitely want to eat simple comfort food for the next few days and for an Indian, it probably doesn’t get more comforting than a bowl of dal with boiled rice. Simple and soul satisfying. I have decided that I am going to eat only dal for this week and well I don’t have to make any effort to do that because I am in India and we anyway eat dal everyday so yay to that! The problem though is that in my house, only one type of dal is made on most days. So it can get kind of boring. I like to change things a bit my mixing various lentils and adding different veggies. After all there are so many varieties of dal so why should we be eating the same one every day?

You guys love my spinach dal and I am sure you will also love my Kale Tomato Dal. This one is a mix of chana dal and toor dal (split pigeon peas) and is cooked with tomato, kale and some spices. It’s so simple but like they say sometimes the best recipes are the simplest.

The recipe for this kale tomato dal is pretty straight forward. You pressure cook the dal till they soften up. If you don’t have a pressure cooker, just cook them on a stove top till they are done. It’s obvious that using a pressure cooker will save you lot of time. So once the dal is boiled, you just need to add the tempering and it’s done. I recommend soaking the dals for 15-20 minutes before you pressure cook them.

kale tomato dal

I added chopped kale to the dal at the very end. If you want to saute it a little, what you can do is, add it after you add the tomatoes. Either way, it will taste good. This dal is a great way to use leftover kale and also a great way to make people eat kale. I know a lot of people, including my husband aren’t very fond of this leafy veggie so this way even they will eat kale.

 

Method

Pressure cook both the dals with water, turmeric powder and dal till they are soft and cooked. You may also do this on a stove top if you don’t have a pressure cooker. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.

Add chopped garlic, curry leaves and chopped green chili. Saute till the garlic starts turning light golden in color.

Next add in the chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, do not over-cook the tomatoes here.

Transfer the cooked dal to the pan and also add the chopped kale. Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. You may add more water if you want a thinner consistency of dal at this point.

Remove cover from pan, add lemon juice and sprinkle garam masala on top.

Serve the kale tomato dal hot with plain rice.

* Adjust spice levels to taste. For a spicier dal, add more green chilies and also add some red chili powder/cayenne pepper to the dal.

* You may saute the chopped kale along with the tomato. I added them way at the end. It will turn out well either way.

Kale Tomato Dal

4.25 from 4 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 35 minutes
Servings: 4
Lentils cooked with kale, tomato and spices. This humble Kale Tomato Dal is comfort food at it's best! Vegan and gluten-free.

Ingredients 

to pressure cook

  • 1/2 cup chana dal also known as split garbanzo beans, soaked for 15-20 minutes
  • 1/2 cup toor dal also known as split pigeon peas lentil, soaked for 15-20 minutes
  • 3 cups water
  • 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • salt to taste

for tempering

  • 2 teaspoons oil I used vegetable oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 4 garlic cloves chopped
  • 2 green chili chopped
  • 6-7 curry leaves
  • 2 medium tomatoes chopped
  • 1.5 cups chopped kale
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • garam masala pinch, to sprinkle
  • salt to taste
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Instructions 

  • Pressure cook both the dals with water, turmeric powder and dal till they are soft and cooked. I cooked on high heat for 4 whistles and then set the heat to low and cook for additional 10-12 minutes.You may also do this on a stove top if you don't have a pressure cooker. Set aside.
  • Heat oil in a pan on medium heat. Add cumin seeds and let them crackle.
  • Add chopped garlic, curry leaves and chopped green chili. Saute till the garlic starts turning light golden in color.
  • Next add in the chopped tomatoes and salt. Cook for 2-3 minutes, do not over-cook the tomatoes here.
  • Transfer the cooked dal to the pan and also add the chopped kale.
  • Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat. You may add more water if you want a thinner consistency of dal at this point.
  • Remove cover from pan, add lemon juice and sprinkle garam masala on top.
  • Serve the kale tomato dal hot with plain rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 224kcal, Carbohydrates: 36g, Protein: 14g, Fat: 2g, Sodium: 100mg, Potassium: 739mg, Fiber: 16g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 3080IU, Vitamin C: 75.7mg, Calcium: 88mg, Iron: 4.4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Entree, Vegetarian
Cuisine: Indian
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Kale Tomato Dal


Hi, I’m Manali!

Bringing you easy, delicious vegetarian & vegan recipes! Eating veggies can be fun, you just need to get creative in the kitchen with the right set of ingredients!


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42 Comments

  1. I really like this dal. I didn’t know that green leafy veggies and dal went so well together! I like the flavours of lemon and garam that are added at the end very much. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

  2. Hi Manali, I have recently been following your posts and I really like your recepies. I only would like to take the liberty of putting in one suggestion. Dals are very very healthy and in most Indian homes are a staple. But many people also complain of bloating after having dals. The reason is that we don’t soak them enough. For example here you have mentioned to soak for 15-20 mins. I really feel to get more nutrition and better digestion the dals should atleast be soaked for 6-8 hours. This requires some pre planning I know. But this is just my suggestion.

    Thankyou

    1. thanks for your suggestions 🙂 I always soak beans and also whole dals but I feel moong and toor and chana don’t need to be soaked. Of course if one has gastric issues, then it makes sense to soak them.

  3. Any chance you can add instructions on how to make this in an Instant Pot, now that you have joined the IP club? 🙂

  4. This sounds delicious Manali. Since you have added kale to this recipe then I am sure this is going to be tastier. 🙂

  5. I’m obsessed with lentils so this dal is right up my alley, Manali! Looooove all that tomato + kale goodness so much!

  6. I love food festivals! Everything you’ve described sounds amazing! And I’m loving this!!

  7. Absolutely love toor dal and spinach in it is like BOMB! Kale is a nice touch too, my mom adds it to her sarson da saag. I love it. Really nice shots. Happy Holi!

  8. I love Indian dishes prepared with kale. Your dal looks delicious, Manali. It’s been more than a decade since I had my Holi in India. I hope you had a lovely Holi back home. 🙂

  9. Sounds like you had a fun holiday, Manali! Lentils are one of my favorites that I don’t cook with nearly as much as I would like, so this colorful dish is calling my name!

  10. I love Dal so much, and this recipe for it sounds amazing! I really can’t wait to try it. I’m glad you had such a great Holi too!

  11. Sounds like so much fun, Manali! Indian festivals are seriously the best! This dish looks so cozy, comforting, and delicious! Definitely bookmarking this for future reference!!

  12. Glad you had a great time at the festival! I love anything with lentils, so this Dal is calling my name! It looks super cozy and so delicious! Cheers!

  13. I love a good foodie festival! But you’re right, there’s nothing like a nice, simple comfort food meal after eating heavy meals for a bit. This dal sounds delicious…and I love the kale in there! 🙂

  14. This looks SO flavorful and delicious!! I had dal at dinner last night and was telling my mom I need to make it at home…you answered my thoughts! Totally going to be trying this one.

  15. This looks incredible! I love tomato-based dishes, but my mom HATES tomato so she would never make anything tomato-based except rasam growing up. I am loving the kale in here and your Holi feasting sounds incredible!