Indian Kale Rice Recipe
An easy, healthy, and truly delicious way to incorporate Kale in Indian cooking. This Kale rice is loaded with the goodness of vegetables and greens and is ready in under 30 mins which makes it a perfect recipe for weeknights or lunchboxes.
Ingredients
For the Kale Rice
- 2 tablespoons oil
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and minced
- 1 cup diced onions I used red onion
- A handful of cashews or around 10 to 12
- ½ jalapeno slit lengthwise
- 1 cup grated carrot
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2.5 cups of chopped kale
- 5 to 6 cups of cooked white rice or brown rice I used a mix of Sona Masoori white rice & Sona Masoori brown rice
Optional Whole Spices (Skip them if you don't have them, they just add a nice flavor to the dish)
- 1 Star anise
- 3 cloves
- 1 black cardamom
Ground Spices/Seasonings
- Salt to taste I used around 2 teaspoons of pink Himalayan salt
- ¼ turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon Sambar Powder I used MTR Sambar powder, any brand works well, Check notes below for substitutions
- ½ teaspoon coriander powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
Instructions
Preparation
- If you don't have cooked rice ready, then cook the rice and keep it ready. I cooked a mix of half white rice and half brown rice using the pot in pot method in Instant pot. Since I used half brown rice, I cooked it on manual mode for 21 minutes on high pressure and did a natural pressure release for 10 minutes.
- Dice the onions small, peel and grate the carrot, peel and mince the garlic cloves, slice the mushrooms and chop the kale.
How to make the Kale Rice Indian style
- Heat a frypan or a wok and add oil once hot.
- Now add cumin seeds, turmeric powder, whole spices star anise, cloves, black cardamom (if using), cashews, and saute for few seconds, and then add chopped garlic cloves.
- After sauteeing garlic for 15 to 20 seconds, add chopped onions, slit jalapeno strips, and a little salt (around ¼ teaspoon, for the onions to cook faster). Saute the onions until they are golden brown.
- Next add sambar powder, coriander powder, and cumin powder and saute for a minute.
- Now add grated carrot and sliced mushrooms and saute for around 5 minutes until the carrots and mushrooms are well cooked.
- Then add chopped kale and stir well. Saute until kale is cooked well. Add salt enough for the veggies and greens.
- Once kale is sauteed well, add room temperature cooked rice, salt and mix everything well carefully without breaking the rice.
- Stir fry for around 2 to 3 minutes until everything comes together, check seasonings, and add anything if needed.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with plain yogurt or simple raitha (seasoned yogurt).
Notes
- If you don't have sambar powder, you can substitute the sambar powder with rasam powder or ½ tsp coriander powder+½ tsp cumin powder+¼ tsp red chili powder.
- Do not stir fry for a long time after adding Kale to preserve the nutrients.
- You can use rice as per your preference, all white, all brown, or mix of white and brown. We usually cook half white and half brown.