Masoor Dal or Red Lentils is a simple, extremely delicious and comforting dal cooked in the Instant Pot with pot-in-pot basmati rice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 10 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 25 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

Ingredients

  • 1 cup masoor dal (red lentils)
  • 1 tablespoon oil ((or ghee))
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
  • 1 pinch hing (asafetida)
  • 2 green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon ginger and garlic (minced)
  • 1 stalk curry leaves ((optional))
  • 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 large tomato (finely chopped)
  • salt (to taste)
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons coriander leaves (finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

Dry Spices

  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon red chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon coriander powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder

For Basmati Rice

  • 1 cup basmati rice
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 1 pinch salt ((optional))

Method

Instant Pot Method:

  1. Firstly Wash and rinse the dal, keep aside. Press Saute mode on Instant Pot. Add oil, and once it's hot, add cumin seeds. Let them crackle. Add asafetida, minced ginger-garlic, green chilies, curry leaves, and saute for 15 secs. Then add chopped onion. Saute till onions turn light brown.
  2. Add tomatoes, turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, garam masala powder, and cook till tomatoes turn soft, which takes 2-3 minutes. Then add rinsed lentils or dal, salt, water, and give a stir. Adjust spices at this stage—no need to soak the dal for this recipe.
  3. Once you add all ingredients for masoor dal in the instant pot, place the trivet and then the rice bowl with water. This way, they will both cook together. The big advantage of the Instant Pot is the option to do Pot-in-Pot Cooking or PIP. It means you can cook multiple things at the same time. See pictures below for reference.
  4. Close the lid on the pot. Set the pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK (High Pressure) and increase the timer to 5 minutes. Once the pot beeps, let it release the pressure naturally (NPR) for 10 minutes.
  5. Instant Pot Red Lentils (Masoor Dal) is ready. Add some lemon juice and cilantro, mix well and serve hot with boiled rice, quinoa, or roti.

Stovetop Pot Method:

  1. Pressure cook the masoor dal adding 3 cups of water for 2-3 whistles.
  2. Heat oil or ghee in a Kadai and add the cumin and let them splutter.
  3. Then add asafetida, minced ginger-garlic, chopped green chili, curry leaves, and saute for 15 seconds
  4. Next, add the onions and saute till the onions turn light brown in color.
  5. Add tomatoes and all the spice powders – turmeric powder, red chili powder, coriander powder, and garam masala powder and cook till tomatoes turn soft, which takes 2-3 minutes.
  6. Now add the cooked and mashed dal (lentils), and stir well. Add water to adjust consistency and salt to taste. Boil dal for 2-3 minutes on a medium-low flame. Finally, add lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and serve hot.

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.