It's so easy to cook a comforting meal of Rice and Dal together at the same time using the pot-in-pot method in your Instant Pot! Vegan and gluten-free.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 25 minutes
  • Total time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian

Ingredients

For the Rice

  • 2 cups white basmati rice (380 grams)
  • 2.5 cups water (20 oz, use 3 cups if you prefer softer rice)
  • 1 teaspoon oil (5 ml, optional but recommended)

For the Dal

  • 1 tablespoon oil (15 ml, use oil of choice)
  • 3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 small red onion (chopped)
  • 4-5 large garlic cloves
  • 1 green chili (chopped)
  • 1 medium tomato (chopped)
  • 1/2 cup toor dal (50 grams, split pigeon pea lentil)
  • 1/2 cup yellow moong dal dhuli (50 grams, split moong bean lentil)
  • 3 cups water (24 oz, or more as needed)
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 2 cups baby spinach (optional)
  • small lemon (juice of)

Method

  1. Rinse rice until water turns clear and then drain the water. Place the rinsed and drained rice in a steel container.
  2. Add water and oil to it and give a quick stir. You may also add pinch of salt if you like. Set this aside and start making the dal in the main pot.
  3. Press saute button on the instant pot and once it displays hot, add oil and then add cumin seeds to the steel pot. Let the seeds sizzle for few seconds.
  4. And then add chopped onion, garlic and green chili. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until the onions soften a bit.
  5. Then add in the tomatoes and cook for 1 minute.
  6. Add the rinsed dal to the pot along with water, turmeric powder and salt. Give it a good stir.
  7. Now, place a long leg trivet inside the pot and t hen place the rice container on top of the trivet. I cover the container with a lid or aluminium foil but you may leave it uncovered too.
  8. Close the pot with its lid and press the pressure cook or manual button. Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Let the pressure release naturally.
  9. Once the pressure has released naturally, open the lid and carefully remove the lid from the rice container. Remove the rice container from the pot carefully using a pair of tongs.
  10. Give the dal a stir. I also added extra 1/2 cup water here as the dal was too thick for my liking. If using spinach, press the saute button now and add the spinach leaves. Let the dal simmer on saute for 2 to 3 minutes until the leaves wilt.
  11. Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and enjoy hot rice and dal!

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.