It’s healthy, it’s comforting and makes a cozy meal when served with piping hot steamed rice or pulao with a side of papad, kachumber salad or carrot pickle.

❤️ About This Toor Dal Recipe

This arhar dal recipe simple, easy and quick to make. Toor dal or arhar dal is the most commonly used lentil type in India. Every region has its own way of making it. E.g. Gujarati dal, Varan bhaat (Maharashtrian), Pappu recipe (Andhra), Sambar (South Indian). Today’s recipe is Punjabi style arhar dal recipe. The consistency of the dal: it has medium consistency (not too thin or not too thick). This is perfect for serving with paratha or naan. Also, perfect for rice or pulao. But some prefer a little thinner dal for rice. If so adjust it by adding some water.

🧾 Ingredient Notes

Here is the pic of the ingredients used in making this delicious instant pot toor dal. All of them are basic and easily available. 

Toor dal (Arhar dal): You’ll find two kinds of toor dal in the grocery store. One is dry as shown in the pic above. And second is coated with oil. You can use any, there is no difference in the taste.  The oily dal: the lentils are coated with castor oil to increase the shelf life and prevent insects. In India, most families stock up their lentils, rice, spices, etc. in bulk for an entire year. So they used to massage the dals with oil and store them in a large container.  But here in the USA, I do not stock up for a year. I mostly buy enough for 2-3 months only. So I buy the dry, non-oily type.  Ghee & Butter: You know that Punjabi food is known for its rich flavors. These two ingredients will give a nice rich flavor to the dal. If making on a day-to-day basis then I would skip the butter (not ghee).  Onion: When it comes to Indian cooking I prefer to use red onion. Tomato: For Indian cooking, I prefer Roma or plum tomatoes. Always ise red, ripe tomatoes. Ginger Gallic: Most of the time I prefer to freshly grind ginger-garlic in a wet jar of my spice grinder. Instead you can use ready ginger garlic paste. Amchur: When it comes to the lentil dishes most of the time lime or lemon juice is added at the end. But here amchur is added which gives a nice and different flavor to the toor dal recipe.

👩‍🍳 How To Make Instant Pot Toor Dal? (Stepwise) 

  1. Turn on the instant pot with saute mode. Once it is hot, add ghee and let it melt.
  2. Now add bay leaf and cloves, saute for 30-40 seconds. Then add cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
  3. Then add sliced onions and cook for 3-4 minutes or until they get soft and light pink in color.
  4. Now add ginger garlic and saute for a minute or until the raw smell of ginger-garlic goes away.
  5. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are soft.
  6. Then add red chili powder, turmeric powder and slit green chili. Mix well.
  7. Add rinsed toor dal and salt.
  8. Add water, stir well. Cover the instant pot with a lid. Cancel the saute mode. Pressure cook on manual (high pressure) for 5 minutes.
  9. Let it NPR (natural pressure release) and when the pin drops open the lid.
  10. Add garam masala, amchur powder and butter. 
  11. Mix really well. If needed you can turn on the saute mode to make it piping hot.
  12. Lastly, garnish with chopped cilantro. 

💭 Expert Tips

This toor dal thickens as it cools down. So as you open the lid, you feel that the dal is too watery. But it will thicken up within 5-10 minutes of resting time. If making this toor dal recipe on a day-to-day basis then I would skip the butter (not ghee). Ghee adds a nice flavor and aroma of the dal. If making it vegan, then use oil instead of ghee and skip the butter. Cook rice along with dal using PIP (pot-in-pot) method: 1 cup Basmati rice, 1 ½ cups Water, ½ Salt or as per your taste. Wash or rinse the rice. Take that into instant pot steamer insert, and add water and salt. Place a tall trivet in the instant pot, place the rice container, cover it with a lid. Continue pressure cooking as mentioned the instructions.

🍽 How To Serve Toor Dal?

Toor dal goes well with plain rice or jeera rice or peas pulao. Serve papad, pickle and salad on the side to complete the meal. This arhar dal can be served with roti, paratha or garlic naan.

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