Whole masoor dal (brown lentils) or kali masoor dal 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!
Love Indian vegetarian recipes made in the instant pot? This collection of 30+ recipes is right up your alley: Instant Pot Indian Vegetarian Recipes.
I'm sharing with you today a recipe that's on the dinner table at least once or twice a week, second only to this moong dal recipe. 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 with rice or as a side with a sabzi like bhindi masala, mixed vegetable curry or aloo gobi.
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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.
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.
- Dry Moong Dal - a dry dal that is nutritious, full of flavor, and easy on the stomach. Tastes best with roti or paratha (Indian breads).
📖 Recipe
Whole Masoor Dal (Brown Lentil Curry)
Equipment
- 6-quart Instant Pot Duo
- Small frypan
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole masoor dal brown lentils
- 2 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
- 3 tablespoon thick tomato paste
- ½ tablespoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- salt to taste
Tempering Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 small red onion sliced thinly
- 3-4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ teaspoon red chilli flakes optional
Instructions
- Rinse the brown lentils until the water runs clear. Soak them in 4 cups water for 30 minutes.
- Add the soaked lentils (along with the water), ginger-garlic paste, tomato paste, the three powdered spices, and salt to the steel insert of your instant pot and close the lid. Make sure the steam release vent is sealed and press the pressure cooking button (high). Set the timer for 25 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, wait for 10-15 minutes and release the rest of the steam. Open the pot and check the dal. It should be fully cooked and soft, but if it is too thick, add half to one cup water and stir well.
- To temper the dal, heat ghee in a small frypan and add the onions. Fry until they just start turning golden, then add the garlic, cumin seeds, and red chilli flakes if using. Fry this mixture until the onions and garlic turn reddish-brown, then pour the tempering into the hot dal. Serve with Indian bread or rice.
Notes
- 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 before cooking it, increase the pressure cooking time by ten minutes.
Sam says
Very clear instructions, thank you!
There is no public comments to read, which is a pity as it at times helps!
A question: is it ok to cook the lentils pot-in-pot? This prevents the burn warning. Will it make any difference to the taste?
Saima says
Thanks for the feedback Sam! It should be okay to cook the lentils pot-in-pot and there should be no difference in taste. Are you planning to cook it with brown rice? That would be a good idea if you're doing pot-in-pot!