Dalma with Vegetables
Odisha's everyday dal: toor dal cooked together with chunks of raw papaya, pumpkin, brinjal and plantain, finished with coconut and roasted cumin-chilli powder.
- Region
- Odisha
- Status
- Traditional
- Diet label
- Strictly vegetarian, egg-free
- Time
- Prep 20 min · Cook 30 min
- Serves
- 3
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Good for
- Everyday lunch, temple-style meals
- Tags
- Good source · High fibre · Soy-free · Whey-free · Gluten-free* · No added sugar · Meal-prep friendly
- Allergens
- Milk (ghee, curd)
Nutrition (estimated)
- Calories
- 535 kcal
- Protein
- 20 g
- Carbs
- 88 g
- Fat
- 10 g
- Fibre
- 10 g
Headline values are for the full plate.
| kcal | Protein | Carbs | Fat | Sat fat | Fibre | Total sugars | Protein per 100 kcal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dalma only (about 330 g) | 260 | 12 g | 37 g | 6 g | 4 g | 8 g | 3 g | 4.5 g |
| Full plate: dalma, 60 g raw rice, 100 g curd | 535 | 20 g | 88 g | 10 g | 6 g | 10 g | 8 g | 4.0 g |
Good source. Values checked against IFCT 2017 on 14 Oct 2026.
Ingredients
- 150 g toor dal (arhar)
- 300 g mixed vegetables in 3 cm chunks: raw papaya, pumpkin, brinjal, raw plantain, 50 g potato, a few beans
- 15 g fresh grated coconut · 10 g ghee · 1 tsp panch phutana · 2 dry red chillies · 1 bay leaf · 10 g ginger, grated · ½ tsp turmeric · 5 g salt
- Bhaja masala: 1 tsp cumin and 2 dry red chillies, dry-roasted and ground
- Plate: 180 g raw rice (60 g each) · 300 g curd
Method
- Rinse toor dal. Cook with turmeric, ginger and 600 ml water for 2 whistles.
- Open the cooker, add the vegetables and salt, and cook 1 more whistle (or simmer 10–12 minutes) until the vegetables are tender but whole.
- Heat ghee; add panch phutana, red chillies and bay leaf. When the seeds crackle, pour over the dalma.
- Stir in coconut and bhaja masala. Simmer 2 minutes.
- Serve with rice and curd.
Protein optimisation
- Toor dal supplies 11 g per serving; vegetables 1 g; rice 4 g and curd 3.5 g on the plate.
- Boost: add 60 g whole green moong to the dal (+4.5 g protein, +65 kcal per serving), a common Odia home variation.
Variations, serving and storage
- Regional: Jagannath temple style — no onion, garlic or tomato (already the case here), cooked in ghee.
- Substitution: any firm seasonal vegetables; avoid leafy greens, which overcook.
- Storage: 2 days refrigerated.
- Food safety: reheat until boiling.
- Meal prep: good.
Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the Indian Food Composition Tables 2017 (ICMR-NIN) and typical product labels. They have not been laboratory-analysed and will vary with your ingredients, brands and cooking. Recipes are for healthy adults and are general information only, not a substitute for advice from a doctor or qualified dietitian. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, cooking for children, have food allergies, or live with kidney disease, diabetes or any other medical condition, please take professional advice about your diet. From the collection Protein-Rich India by Dr. Shantanu Deshpande · drshantanudeshpande.com