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Indian

Dalma

Vegetarian

ଡାଲମା

Odisha's signature lentil and vegetable curry: toor dal cooked with pumpkin, aubergine, raw papaya and potato, tempered with five-seed panch phutana and finished with roasted cumin and coconut.

Dalma is an Indian curry, ready in about 55 minutes and made with toor dal (split pigeon peas) and pumpkin. It serves 4 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking
Odia dalma: lentils cooked with pumpkin and vegetables in a clay pot
Photo: Sibani / Wikimedia Commons · CC-BY-SA-4.0
Prep
15 min
Cook
40 min
Total
55 min
Serves
4
Level
Easy
Calories
271

Ingredients

4 servings

Panch phutana tadka

To finish

Equipment

Method

  1. Step 1

    Cook the dal with 500 ml of the water, the turmeric (opens in a new tab) and ginger until soft but not completely broken down.

  2. Step 2

    Add the pumpkin (opens in a new tab), aubergine (opens in a new tab), papaya (opens in a new tab), potato (opens in a new tab), salt and remaining water and simmer until all the vegetables are tender.

  3. Step 3

    Heat the ghee (opens in a new tab) and add the cumin (opens in a new tab), mustard, fennel and fenugreek (opens in a new tab) seeds with the dried chillies and bay leaf (opens in a new tab). When they crackle, pour into the dalma.

  4. Step 4

    Simmer 2 more minutes, then sprinkle with the roasted cumin (opens in a new tab) powder, coconut and coriander.

    • 2 min
    • low heat
    Fresh herbs scattered over a finished dish
    How it looks · Photo: Klaus Nielsen on Pexels

About this dish

Origin
Odisha, India · Well documentedA version without onion or garlic is part of the offerings at the Jagannath Temple in Puri.More food from India
Dish
Lunch · Dinner · Curries · Main courses
Cooking method
Pressure-cooked, Simmered
Taste
earthy, mild, aromatic / warmly spiced, sweet & savoury
Diet
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No gluten ingredients · No nut ingredients · High-fibre
All labelsVegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Lacto-vegetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · Whole-food focused · No gluten ingredients · Egg-free · No nut ingredients · No added sugar · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · High-fibre · Low-fat
With the listed swaps: Vegan, Plant-based, Ovo-vegetarian, Dairy-freeWorked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for
One-pot · Everyday · Budget-friendly
Cook more with
Toor dal (split pigeon peas) · Pumpkin · Turmeric · Fresh ginger · Eggplant · Papaya
Techniques
Simmering · Pressure cooking

Allergens

  • Contains, can be adapted: Milkfrom ghee
  • Contains: Mustardfrom mustard seeds

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

271 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 426 g · recipe makes 4

Where the energy comes from

  • Protein 15%
  • Carbohydrate 60%
  • Fat 25%
Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
NutrientPer servingPer 100 g*
Energy271 kcal64 kcal
Protein10.7 g2.5 g
Carbohydrate42.5 g10 g
Net carbohydrate33.2 g7.8 g
Sugars——
Added sugars0 g0 g
Fibre9.3 g2.2 g
Fat7.9 g1.8 g
Saturated fat4.8 g1.1 g
Trans fat0 g0 g
Cholesterol13 mg3 mg
Sodium749 mg176 mg
Salt equivalent1.9 g0.4 g
Vitamins & minerals per serving
Potassium
1070 mg
Calcium
109 mg
Iron
4 mg
Magnesium
111 mg
Vitamin A (RAE)
228 µg
Vitamin C
33 mg
Vitamin D
0 µg
Vitamin B12
0 µg
Folate (DFE)
205 µg

How these numbers were made

  • Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
  • *Per 100 g of combined raw ingredients; the cooked dish may weigh more or less.
  • Optional ingredients are not included: nigella seeds, coriander leaves.
  • “—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
  • Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

  • Keep the vegetable pieces fairly large so they hold their shape in the dal.

Common mistakes

  • Cooking the dal to a smooth mush before the vegetables go in — dalma should be thick but still have texture.

Serve with

  • Serve with plain rice or pakhala, and a fried fish or vegetable bhaja.

Storage

  • Keeps 2 days refrigerated.

Reheating

  • Thin with water and reheat until bubbling.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added · Updated

Sauces, chutneys & dips for this dish

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Built from the recipe’s own sections. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Used in steps 1, 2

Masalas in this recipe

Make the masala first, then come back to finish the dish.

  • Whole-spice blend

    Panch phoron

    This recipe roasts and grinds it from whole spices (4.1 g for 4 servings). The full masala recipe explains each step in detail.

    Make Panch phoron

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

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