Brown Lentils with Basmati Rice - Masoor Dal Pulao Recipe

Craving a simple and wholesome meal? This Masoor Dal Pulao, made with lentils and basmati rice, is a comforting one-pot dish perfect for busy days. It's naturally vegan, gluten-free, and packed with earthy flavors from brown lentils and aromatic spices.

For soaking tips and perfect texture, explore my basmati rice recipes to learn how to cook fluffy rice for pulao and everyday meals.

This is my modified version of the famous Middle Eastern dish Mujadara.

I love one-pot rice dishes as they are easy to make and take less time, ideal for busy weekdays. And depending on time and availability, I make this recipe in an Instant pot or stovetop pressure cooker, or electric rice cooker.

Main ingredients

• Brown lentils: It is also called masoor dal in Hindi. It is one of the most easily cooked lentils. This lentil doesn't need pre-soaking, but I prefer soaking it to remove anti-nutrients. You can soak these brown lentils from anywhere 30 minutes to 8 hours. For this recipe, I usually soak Basmati rice and this lentil for 30 minutes. This recipe uses brown lentils, but you can use red lentils as well. I prefer the whole as it gives a nice earthy flavor.
• Veggies: These are optional, but I usually add them to make this lentils and rice a complete meal by itself. You can use any veggies of your choice and according to the availability. Other than carrots and beans - potatoes, green peas, cauliflower, broccoli, and even mushrooms will be good to add.

Instructions

Prep work

• Soak whole masoor dal for 4 - 8 hours or soak for at least 30 minutes.
• Wash and soak basmati rice for 30 minutes.
• Thinly slice the onion and chop carrots and beans into the desired shape. I have added green peas as well.

Instant Pot instructions

• Start the Instant pot in saute mode.
• Once the pot gets heated, add oil. To the heated oil, add the whole spices ( cumin seeds, cloves, cardamoms, cinnamon, bay leaves) and slit green chili. Green chili is optional, and it will make the dish spicy.

• Add onions and mix it well.

• Now add ginger garlic paste and mix everything.

• Once onions are slightly brown, add chopped carrots and green beans. You can add other veggies like potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, green peas as well. Caramelized onions will taste good in this recipe.

• Mix everything well and let the veggies fry for 2 minutes and add cashews if you are using them. 

• Add turmeric powder and red chili powder if you are using them. Else adjust green chili according to your spice preference.

• Wash the soaked brown lentils and drain the water completely. Now add these lentils to the veggies mixture and give a good stir. Let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes.

• Now add finely chopped fresh fenugreek leaves and coconut yogurt or regular yogurt. 

• If you don't have fresh fenugreek leaves, add 2 teaspoon of crushed dried fenugreek leaves. Mix everything well. 
• Drain the water from soaked rice and add it to this mixture. Add required salt and water.

• Cancel the saute mode. Close the lid and seal the venting knob. Start the Instant pot in manual or pressure cook mode and cook on HIGH pressure for 5 minutes. 
• It took around 10 minutes for the pressure to build up. Once done, wait for 5 minutes and do a manual pressure release. 

• Once the pressure is released completely, open the lid. Add chopped coriander leaves and fluff the rice. Keep it aside for 10 minutes, and brown lentils rice pilaf is ready to serve!

Stovetop pressure cooker instructions

• To make this lentils and rice in a stovetop pressure cooker, heat the pressure cooker pan itself and follow the steps same as Instant Pot.
• Let it cook for 6-7 minutes for 1 or 2 whistles. Let the pressure subside naturally (it took around 10 minutes for me), and add chopped cilantro leaves once done. Easy and delicious Indian-style lentils and rice is ready to serve.

Recipe Notes and variations

• Want to make this recipe nut-free? Skip the cashews.
• This recipe uses coconut yogurt, and hence the recipe is vegan. But you can use regular yogurt or a small tomato, either finely chopped or in puree form. Slight tang for yogurt or tomato will make this dish taste good, but these are optional. I do make this lentils and rice without yogurt or tomato also.
• I have taken the pictures while making the recipe in a stovetop pressure cooker. All the steps remain the same when you cook this recipe in an Instant pot or stovetop pressure cooker, except for the water to rice ratio and cooking time.
• You can make this recipe in an electric rice cooker as well. Make the tempering in a pan and add rice, lentils, veggies tempering, water to the rice cooker's inner vessel, and cook it till done. I usually use 2 cups water for every 1 cup of basmati rice for an electric rice cooker.
• This recipe uses 1.25 cups of water for every 1 cup of rice. This will yield fluffy rice. You can use 1.5 cups of water for soft rice.
• When cooking lentils and rice in an Instant pot, do not wait for natural pressure release. Rice will be overcooked and become mushy.
• Want to flavor the rice more? You can use vegetable broth or chicken broth instead of water in this recipe.
• This recipe uses white basmati rice and will not work for brown basmati rice as cooking times and water ratio will differ.
• I haven't tried this recipe with green lentils.

Serving suggestions

This lentils and rice is a complete meal by itself, and you can enjoy this as it is. And this dish will taste good even if it is cold, making it an ideal and filling lunch option.

To make this an Indian meal, I serve this rice lentils pilaf along with some yogurt.

You can use this rice to make tacos and burritos.

Storage

This lentils rice keeps well for 8 to 10 hours at room temperature. And you can store this for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator and freeze it for around three months.

As you are here, you will love these instant pot rice recipes.

Instant pot rice and beans

Instant pot basmati rice

Instant pot mint rice

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