Kale Dal (Spiced Kale and Lentils)
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Oh Kale, how much I love thee! I don’t know why I have this fascination with bitter foods, I do have the sweetest personality! Okay, that is a lie, the personality part that is, but the worst I get is a little sour sometime, never bitter! I love bitter melon and all types of bitter greens like mustard green, broccoli rabe, chicory and the good old muringa ila (leaves of the drumstick tree) from back home. I don’t think Kale is as bitter as some of those other items, but since I am married to someone who doesn’t share my enthusiasm when it comes to bitter stuff, even kale is considered a bitter green around here. But that doesn’t stop me from cooking bitter stuff, I just have to get a bit creative and tone it down a bit by combining these with some neutral ingredients.
The idea of Kale dal is not really mine though, credit goes to Pravs, I first saw Kale dal at her delicious blog, Simply Spicy a couple of years ago. I have tried many variations of it afterwards and this version has become one of my go-to recipes for a quick and easy meal. Nothing fancy, just the simplest form of the common dal, with some Kale added in, it elevates the dal to a totally different dimension. Try it with your normal dal recipe next time, if you have never tried this before. Here is my version for reference.
Ingredients
- 3/4th cup Toor Dal (yellow split pigeon peas)
- 1 lb kale, tough ends removed and chopped
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
- 1/4 tsp cumin seeds
- 1/4 cup shallots, chopped
- 3 green chilies, split
- 3 whole red chilies
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Method
Wash and soak the dal for 2 hours. Cook the dal with 2 cups of water in a pressure cooker, for about 5 minutes on low heat after the first whistle. Alternatively, you can cook the soaked dal with about 5 cups of water on the stove, till the dal is soft and can be mashed with the back of a wooden spoon easily.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the mustard and cumin seeds. When the mustard seeds start to splutter, add the shallots, green chilies and red chilies and sauté till the shallots starts to brown. Add the chopped kale and salt to taste and stir for a minute till the kale is wilted.
Pour the cooked dal into the pan. Add more hot water to get your desired consistency if the dal doesn’t have enough liquid. Mix well and bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer for 6 minutes till the kale is cooked through.
Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Serve with steamed rice.
Now, wasn’t that easy?
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Category: Greens, Lentils and Legumes
aha! i am yet to cook with kale, haven’t seen it in SG. guessing its not a tropical green
Never seen a bitter veggie to look as inviting as this one, lovely combo!
Never had kale. Wonder if it is available in India. The dal has a nice color… looks really tempting
I am yet to cook kale… it has been on my to try list for a long time… was thinking of stir frying but will try it with dal instead.
I love kale, bitter melon, methi, murungai ilai too
Though I’ve cooked often with kale never tried a dhal with it. Looks fabulous.
I’ve seen some fascinating recipes for kale chips. I don’t think I’ve tasted kale yet.
Very nice..will try
Love greens in dals!! This one looks so tasty.
Slurp… very comforting. When I bought Kale for the first time, I made dhal with it.
Even i love bitter veggies, leaves and isn;t kale and dal and good combo? Happy to see this easy recipe.
Interesting! I’m guessing that there must be “many” kinds of lentils in the world, because I’ve always been confused about just what a lentil was – and now I see that even split peas are considered lentils.
But I guess as long as they are delicious, why should I care!
Wow. The Dal looks wonderful. I also have a husband who will not, WILL NOT touch anything to do with Kale, Brocolli rabe. I have somehow managed cooking with mustard greens and Karela. I am going to try your recipe
Lets just say we have slightly more evolved taste budes
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I didnt know kale had a bitter flavour (since I havent tasted it ever) but amn sure it lent the dish the extra something!
I dont know if you have realised, but the first two sentences of the post rhyme. Earlier there was the cute story & now this, I urge you to write a complete piece
Will definitely try the Kale dal, BTW.
First time to you site. B’ful posts and awesome recipes.
Dal looks simply superb! Love the colors yellow and green.
This looks SO good! I love cooking w. kale and looks like you’ve picked all the right ingredients to go with it.