Name: Whole Masoor Dal (Brown Lentil Curry)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 2 cups whole masoor dal (brown lentils); 2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste; 3 tbsp thick tomato paste; 1/2 tbsp coriander powder; 1 tsp red chilli powder; 1 tsp turmeric powder; salt, to taste; 1 tbsp ghee; 1 small red onion, sliced thinly; 3-4 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1/2 tsp red chilli flakes (optional)

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Whole masoor dal (brown lentils) tastes great with bread or a helping of white or brown rice. A tempering of ghee, onions, garlic, and cumin takes it to the next level. These curry style brown lentils have a savory, earthy taste you won't forget in a hurry!

I'm sharing with you today a recipe that's on the dinner table at least once or twice a week. We love having our Indian meals with some kind of dal, and I cannot imagine why I haven't posted this whole masoor dal or sabut masoor dal recipe yet (sabut = whole). It's mostly a hands-off recipe, the kind where you throw everything in the instant pot and forget about it for twenty to twenty-five minutes. The instant pot does its thing and then you come back, temper the dal (the tempering is a vital step), and it's ready to be served.

BROWN LENTILS VS. RED LENTILS

Both are essentially the same type of lentils except that brown lentils are the whole, husked version of red lentils. Remove the husks, split the lentils and you will get the more well-known and popular red lentils.

However, they cook very differently and taste different too. Brown lentils are best suited for pressure cooking as they take a long time to soften. I can't imagine keeping an eye on the stovetop for an hour and a half, making sure the liquid doesn't dry completely. The instant pot, on the other hand, makes short work of these lentils with no supervision at all. Red lentils, as all of us know, can be cooked on the stovetop easily because of the much shorter cooking times. Though there's no stopping you from using your instant pot for red lentils as well to cut down on the time even more. Have a look at the ingredients required for making whole masoor dal below:

How to make whole masoor dal in the instant pot

Making masoor dal in the instant pot is really simple. Put all the dal ingredients in the instant pot along with salt and four cups water and pressure cook the contents for twenty-five minutes.

Then prepare the tempering and pour it over the prepared dal. To prepare the tempering, heat the ghee in a small frypan and add sliced onions. When they start turning golden, add the cumin, chilli flakes, and garlic, and fry until the onions turn a deep shade of red. Before they turn black (read that as burnt), pour the oil and all into the dal.

Enjoy the dal with Indian bread or pita bread or rice and a fresh salad.

This is what the dal looks like straight out of the pressure cooking (without tempering):

Some useful notes and tips

If the dal is too thick after being cooked, simply add a little water to thin it out. You may have to cook it on sauté for about five minutes to make sure it becomes creamy again.
Do use red onions in this recipe and fry the onions until they take on a deep caramel color. Fried onions taste terrific with brown lentil curry.
This dal keeps in the fridge for up to four or five days. It also freezes quite well. If you are thinking of freezing it, don't temper it with the ghee. Just pressure cook it, allow it to cool down completely, and freeze it in any container.
If you forgot to soak the dal, that's okay. Simply increase the pressure cooking time by ten minutes and the dal will turn out just fine.

Substitutions and Variations

Instead of tomato paste, you can also use chopped tomatoes in this recipe. Traditionally, tomatoes or tomato paste is not added to this dal, but I have always liked the extra piquancy which tomatoes impart to this dal. I think on the few occasions that I've cooked it without tomatoes, the dal has lost some of its flavor.
A lot of people I know also add tamarind paste, but I don't always have tamarind paste in my fridge. If you do, you can add two teaspoonfuls with the other ingredients. However, do NOT add the tomato paste if you'r adding tamarind because that will make it too tangy and upset the flavor profile.
You can also sprinkle a little roasted and ground cumin to the dal after it is cooked. Not strictly essential, but it does add an earthy flavor to the dal.
If you are vegan, simply substitute the ghee for a neutral cooking oil of your choice. I am a sucker for ghee as it lends a wonderful aroma to anything it's added too but if you are not a fan, you can easily swap it out.

brown lentil curry, sliced onions and tomatoes, rice, and pita bread on a plate with a spoon

More recipes featuring beans and lentils

Dal Makhani - an impossibly delicious combo of black lentils and kidney beans with oodles of butter and cream!
Dal Palak - mixed lentils with spinach leaves and green mangoes!
Lobia Masala - curried black eyed peas with no unhealthy ingredients to spoil the fun.
Rajma Masala - red kidney beans cooked in a thick onion-tomato gravy. Together with steamed rice, they make for a very popular dish called rajma chawal.