Instant Pot Dal Fry

Instant Pot Dal Fry is a quick recipe for my dal fry and pot in pot rice, makes a delicious meal. This dal fry is made using yellow pigeon pea lentils with a few spices and is the ultimate comfort food.

Whenever my dad was not going to have lunch at home, my mom would whip this easy meal. My dad loves his phulkas, while my mom loves her rice. Perhaps, we would enjoy this hearty delicious meal, with a gleam in our eyes. I at least make this dal once every week. It is so simple, and my daughter Inaaya loves it too.

What is Dal Fry?

Dal fry is a delicious Indian lentil recipe that is most popularly made with tur dal (pigeon pea lentils), onions, tomatoes, aromatics, and spices. If you are new to Indian cuisine, you might be wondering how this dal is fried. Well, I assure you. it isn't.

Dal or Dahl in Hindi means lentils. The dals in Indian cuisine are mostly vegan. While some families you ghee to make, my dal recipe is vegan.

To make a delicious dal fry, you start with pressure cooking your lentils until soft and mushy. Then this dal is cooked with onions, tomatoes, ginger, green chilies, garlic, and spices. Finally finishes with a tadka of garlic, it is served with jeera rice, rotis, or naan.

Ingredients to Make Instant Pot Dal Fry Recipe

• Vegetables - We will use finely chopped onions and tomatoes for this recipe.
• Aromatics and Herbs - I love to use minced garlic, ginger and green chili paste, cilantro, and kasoori methi for this dal, and it tastes absolutely delicious.

• Whole Spices - You will need whole dried red chilies, cumin seeds, and bay leaf for this recipe
• Spices - I use red chili powder, cumin powder, turmeric, and garam masala for this recipe
• Oil - I like to use avocado oil or peanut oil. But you can use ghee or any other neutral-flavored oil for this recipe.

How to Serve Dal Fry?

Serve dal fry either with your favorite Indian Flatbread, or steamed rice. I like to serve dal fry with either garlic naans, phulka rotis, parathas, steamed rice, or jeera rice.

How to Make Instant Pot Dal Fry?

This Instant Pot Dal Fry Recipe is so easy and quick. It is absolutely delicious and gets ready in under 15 minutes.

I start with washing and soaking the tur dal (pigeon pea lentils).

Start the Instant Pot on Sauté Mode, and add oil, and cumin seeds. Once the cumin seeds start to splutter add a pinch of asafetida, curry leaves, bay leaf, dried red chilies, and whole green chilies.

We add minced onions, garlic, ginger, and sauté until onions are mushy. Next goes in the tomatoes, along with ground spices and salt. We cook them until they are jammy. Add the washed and drained tur dal, and water to close the instant pot. Pressure cook it for 7 mins. Wait for 10 minutes, do a quick pressure release.

Garnish it with cilantro. Add more water if you feel your dal fry is very thick.

Serve it hot with steamed or jeera rice, naans or rotis.

More Recipes You Might Like

• Soft Phulka Rotis
• Gujarati Dal
• Sambar Recipe
• Creamy Dal Makhni

Instant Pot Dal Fry
Dal fry is a delicious Indian lentil recipe that is most popularly made with tur dal (pigeon pea lentils), onions, tomatoes, aromatics, and spices. If you are new to the Indian cuisine, you might be wondering how this dal is fried.
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Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Indian
Servings: 3
Author: Aayushi Patel
Equipment
• Instant Pot
Ingredients
• 2 Tbsp Oil/ Butter/ Ghee
• 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds
• 2 Whole Dried Red Chilies
• 2 Green Chilies, prefrebaly Thai green chilies, but serrano works fine too.
• 4-5 Curry Leaves
• 1/4 tsp Asafetida
• 1 Bay Leaf
• 1 Cup Minced Onions
• 1 Tbsp Minced garlic
• 1.5 Tsp Ginger and Green Chili Paste
• 1/2 Cup Finely Chopped Tomatoes
• 1 Tsp Red Chili Powder
• 1 Tsp Cumin Coriander Powder
• 1/2 Tsp Turmeric
• 1 Tsp Garam Masala
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tbsp Kasoori Methi
• 1 Cup Tur Dal (Pigeon Peas Lentils)
• 2 Cups Water
Instructions
To Make the Dal Fry In Instant Pot
• Wash 1 cup of Dal and soak it for 10 minutes while you prep the veggies. Drain the water after 10 minutes.
• Press sauté mode on your instant pot for 20 minutes.
• Add oil/ butter / ghee, anything you prefer. Dal Fry tastes the best with ghee, but I use oil usually.
• Once hot, add cumin seeds, red chilies, green chilies, asafetida, curry leaves and bay leaf.
• Add minced onions, ginger and garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook the onions until they soften.
• Next add in the chopped tomatoes, and ground spices along with salt.
• Cook the tomatoes until jammy.
• Add the washed and drained tur dal (pigeon peas).
• Add water and crush the kasoori methi between your palms and add.
If you want to cook Pot in pot rice
• Use an oven safe round pan, that fits in your instant pot, leaving 1 inch gap from all sides. Wash and rinse 1 Cup of Rice. Add 2 Cups of Water, 1 Tsp Salt and 1 Tsp Cumin Seeds.
• Place the trivet in the Instant Pot. Place the Pot in the Trivet and cover it with a stainless steel lid.
• Turn off the Sauté Mode. Press on Pressure Cook. Pressure cook on high pressure Manually for 7 minutes.
• Wait for 10 minutes after the buzzing sound. Do a quick pressure release.
• If you made the rice, take the rice out with the help of tongs, and then stir the dal.
• See if you want to adjust the consistency by adding water. Simmer for 5 minutes and serve hot.
To Make Dal Fry On Stove Top
• Wash 1 cup of Dal and soak it for 10 minutes while you prep the veggies. Drain the water after 10 minutes.
• Add the dal to pressure cooker. Add 1/4 Tsp Turmeric and 1/2 Tsp Salt. Add 2 Cups of Water and cook on high for 1 whistle. Then reduce the heat to medium flame, and cook it for 4 whistles or another 5 minutes. Let the pressure cooker cool down naturally.
• After the pressure cooker cools down, carefully open the pressure cooker. With a whisk or hand blender, mash the dal.
• In a heavy bottom Pot, Add oil/ butter / ghee, anything you prefer. Dal Fry tastes the best with ghee, but I use oil usually.
• Once hot, add cumin seeds, red chilies, green chilies, asafetida, curry leaves, and bay leaves.
• Add minced onions, ginger, and garlic with a pinch of salt. Cook the onions until they soften.
• Next add in the chopped tomatoes, and ground spices along with salt. Cook the tomatoes until jammy.
• Add cooked, mashed dal to the pot.
• Add 1 Cup of water and crush the kasoori methi between your palms and add to the dal
• Let the dal simmer on medium heat. Finish it off with cilantro.
• Serve Hot with Rotis, Naan, Steamed Rice or Jeera Rice.
Notes
• You can adjust the consistency by adding more or less water to the dal as per your liking. 
• The Dal Fry Tastes better with the tempering of ghee. 
• If you want to make it vegan use oil or vegan butter. 
• For making this dal gluten-free skip adding asafetida.
• You can also use other lentils of your choice, like yellow moong dal, pink masoor dal, or combination of these dals. 
• If you are making this dal with Masoor and Yellow Moong Dal, reduce the pressure cooking time on the Instant Pot to 4 minutes. 
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