This Instant Pot Dal is packed with Kale! It is full of flavor, cozy, nourishing and immensely satisfying. It is a fantastic way to incorporate a lot of kale; even kale haters won't mind eating it. Swap kale for spinach or make it on the stovetop.
Healthy Instant Pot Dal Recipe
This kale dal takes the everyday Indian dal tadka and loads it up with nutritious kale! There’s no soaking required, and it turns out creamy, flavorful, and comforting — best enjoyed over a bowl of hot rice and ghee.
Cooking dal in the instant pot is a no-brainer since dal is traditionally made in a pressure cooker in Indian kitchens. I love how the instant pot makes cooking authentic Indian dishes so effortless — and with the addition of kale, it becomes even healthier! It’s an easy, comforting meal perfect for busy days, and I often make a double batch to meal prep for the week.
This yellow lentil curry is not only comforting when served with steamed rice and a dollop of ghee, but it’s also a complete meal, packed with protein and healthy kale in one bowl. Think of it as your everyday dal tadka with kale. Don’t have kale? Simply swap it with spinach!
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Ingredients
Scroll down to the recipe card below for full information on ingredients and amounts.
- Dal - This instant pot dal recipe suggests a blend of moong and toor dal, resulting an optimal texture without resembling mashed baby food. Nevertheless, you can use all moong or toor dal.
- Kale - I use one whole bunch of kale for ½ cup of lentils! Looking for more kale recipes? Try this air fryer kale chips or roasted sweet potato and kale salad.
- Spices - Dal is made with far less spices than most Indian curries! This recipe calls for a simple combination of cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander and cayenne.
- Aromatics - Onion, garlic and tomato is a staple in Indian food recipes.
- Oil - Use your favorite cooking oil such as vegetable, coconut, avocado oil or ghee.
Types of kale to use - You can use Dinosaur or Tuscan kale as in the kale pasta, with dark green leaves or Winterbor or curly kale which has a lighter leaves. Don't prefer kale? Use chopped spinach instead. Refer notes on when to add it to the instant pot dal.
Types of dal
I’ve used a combination of toor dal and moong dal in this recipe, but you can easily make it with just one type of lentil — toor dal, moong dal, or masoor dhal all work well. You can also substitute masoor dal for toor dhal and pair it with moong dal for a delicious variation.
How to make instant pot dal
You can find full printable recipe below, but here is a quick overview of the procedure along with step-by-step photos.
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👩🍳 This method of toasting the seeds in hot oil is known as tadka, used in authentic Indian curries.
Step 9 - Open instapot, add some ghee and mash the kale dal using a ladle. Give a good mash with a ladle.
Stovetop instructions
- Place a large sauce pan over medium heat with oil and let it heat up.
- Add cumin seeds and let toast for few seconds. Stir in chopped onion, garlic, green chili and some salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn translucent, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in coriander, cayenne and turmeric powders, and cook, stirring continously for a 20 to 30 seconds to toast the spices.
- Add daal, chopped kale, tomato and 2 cups of water. Give a good stir.
- Cover with a tight fitting lid, reduce heat to low and simmer gently for 45 minutes to one hour. Stir two or three times during the cooking time.
- Stir in some ghee and serve.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- To store: Store this creamy pressure cooker kale dal in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days. Feel free to reheat it in the microwave or on the stovetop!
- To freeze: Indian dals freeze beautifully! Let the instant pot dal cool completely and then transfer it to a freezer-safe container or zipper bags and freeze for up to 2 months. To reheat, first let it thaw in the refrigerator, then heat it in the microwave or on the stovetop. Dhal becomes thick as it cools. Be sure to add a splash of water while reheating to adjust the consistency.
Tips for Success
- Adjust the spice level to suit your taste — add more green chilies or a pinch of cayenne powder if you prefer extra heat.
- To make this recipe vegan, simply use vegan butter instead of ghee. The rest of the dal in instant pot recipe is naturally vegan.
- You can use only toor dal or only moong dal instead of combining the two.
- Adjust the amount of kale based on your preference, or substitute spinach.
- For a boost of flavor, stir in a couple of tablespoons of freshly grated coconut at the end — my mom always did this with her dal tadka, and it made it even more delicious!
- Dal and rice is the most comforting of Indian food recipes. Brown rice or cooked quinoa will be just as good with this lentil curry for a healthier option. A side or whole wheat chapathi, paratha or naan makes it authentic!
Instant Pot Dal
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 to 2 garlic cloves chopped
- ½ jalapeno optional
- ½ to ¾ teaspoon salt or to taste divided
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder (Indian chili powder)
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
- ½ cup dal of choice I used an equal mix of moong and toor dal
- 1 bunch kale
- 1 to 2 tablespoons ghee
- 2 tablespoons freshly grated coconut optional
Instructions
Prep work
- Chop kale - Wash kale leaves. Working with one leaf at a time, remove the mid rib and then chop the tender leaf into small pieces.
- Wash and drain the daals.
Cook
- Heat instant pot to saute mode. Add vegetable oil when hot and give a minute for the oil to heat up.
- Add cumin seeds and let toast for few seconds. Stir in chopped onion, garlic, green chili and some salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to turn translucent, 2 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in coriander, cayenne and turmeric powders, and cook, stirring continously for a 20 to 30 seconds to toast the spices.
- Press cancel, add daal, chopped kale, tomato and 1 ½ cups of water. Give a good stir. Close and lock lid, making sure that valve is set to sealing. Select manual setting (or pressure cooker) for 12 minutes. Open lid after a natural pressure release.
- Stir in some ghee, coconut (if using) and salt, as needed. Using a heavy ladle, mix the cooked daal for a few times to mash it well and give a thick and creamy consistency. 👉 My mom always added freshly grated coconut at the end when cooking dal with greens — it instantly elevates the flavor and makes it so delicious!Tip: If using chopped spinach instead of kale, add it at this stage, give it a good stir and cook in saute mode for 2 to 4 minutes or until the spinach has wilted.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information, based on third-party calculations, should be seen as estimates, not guarantees, as various factors like product types, brands, processing methods, and more can alter the nutritional content in recipes.
🥬 Looking for more healthy kale recipes? Try the spicy kale pasta or the air fryer kale chips recipe next!
💡 Did you know? While commonly referred to as dal in Hindi, this versatile dish is known by different names across India. In Tamil, it's called paruppu, while in Telugu, it's known as pappu. The English rendition of this dish also varies, with spellings like dahl, daal, or dhal being used interchangeably!
Looking for more Indian vegetarian curries
- Beet curry with chickpeas is vegan, healthy and makes an easy 30 minute meal.
- Creamy chickpea and spinach curry is quick, easy to make with pantry staples! It’s vegan, gluten-free, packed with protein and fiber, and full of bold, authentic Indian flavor.
- This butternut squash and cashew curry is thick, creamy, vegan, wholesome, and full of warming Indian spices.
- This Indian butter chickpeas is a vegetarian version of the classic Butter Chicken.
LetsCurry
Kale and lentils- perfect combination and nutrition aspect in check. Another amazing recipe.
Ute
This dal is very bland and tasteless, very disappointed. Needs more spice.
Maria Doss
Hi Ute, I'm sorry that this didn't work for you. Traditionally, daals are mild and does not have much spice, so they are accompanied with a dry spicier vegetable/meat dish to be served with rotis / rice.
Lynn
Delicious use of kale. Thank you for the recipe. You mentioned using ghee if vegan. Ghee is clarified butter and is NOT vegan. There are many plant based alternatives in the markets to choose from. I left out the butter and oil and it came out great.
Maria Doss
Hi Lynn, Glad you liked the recipe and thank you for the pointer. We will make necessary changes, Maria