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Instant pot dal tadka

Make this quick version of traditional Indian style dal tadka in an Instant Pot in just 30 minutes and your lunch or dinner is sorted out!
Course Main Course
Cuisine Indian
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings 4

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup mixed lentils (I used Moong dal, toor dal, Masoor dal, Sabut masoor dal)
  • 2 cups water
  • ½ cup chopped tomatoes (2 medium-sized tomatoes)
  • ¼ cup chopped onion (one small sized onion)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 green chili
  • ½ teaspoon chpped ginger
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • ½ teaspoon garam masala powder
  • ½ teaspoon coriander seeds powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
  • 1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves
  • Salt to taste

Instructions

  • Start Instant pot in saute mode.
  • Once it is hot, add oil to the Inner Pot.
  • Now add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, green chili, and chopped ginger and garlic.
  • Once the garlic turns little brown, you can dish out the tempering into a small bowl so that you can add it at last. (optional)
  • Now add finely chopped onions and let them cook for a couple of minutes.
  • To this onion mixture, add finely chopped tomatoes and let them cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
  • To this cooked tomato, add coriander seeds powder, garam masala powder, turmeric powder, salt, and mix it well.
  • After a couple of minutes, add washed dal (mix of toor, moong, masoor, and sabut masoor dal) to the inner pot.
  • Add water to this now. Close the Instant Pot with lid, seal the vent. Select Manual or Pressure cook mode and cook the mixed dal for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure.
  • For cooking rice along with dal, place a trivet on the top of dal. Then place the rice bowl on it and pressure cook for 5 minutes on HIGH pressure. 
  • Once the Instant Pot beeps, do a manual pressure release after 5 minutes.
  • Mix the dal well and adjust salt if required. If you have saved tempering from the first step, add it now.
  • Garnish the dal with coriander leaves, and Indian style dal tadka is ready to serve!

Notes

  • You can skip onions while making this dal tadka recipe.
  • Adjust green chili according to your taste. 
  • You can make this recipe with ghee instead of oil.
  • This dal tadka recipe can be made using any kind of dal or mixed dal.