Three-Lentil Dal Makhani
By :The Instant Pot Bible by Bruce Weinstein
This one’s a creamy lentil curry, often made with black lentils and kidney beans. Unfortunately, black lentils are tough to track down outside of specialty markets. Easier to find, red kidney beans do indeed break down and thicken the curry, giving it a characteristic texture. But dried kidney beans make the recipe overly complicated (soaking, pre-cooking separately, etc.). And canned kidney beans end up too squishy under pressure for this long. To solve all those problems, we use a mix of lentils to revamp this dish—even red lentils (sometimes called “pink lentils”), which dissolve under pressure and thicken the dish while giving it an earthy flavor. Although this is a vegetarian main course, feel free to serve it alongside almost anything from the grill. Pork loin would be welcome. Beef ribs, too.
Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
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Course Main Course
Cuisine Modern
Difficulty Easy
Browse Category Rice & Pastas
Duration 30-60 min
Cooking Technique Max Pressure Cook, Pressure Cook, Sauté
Main Ingredient Butter, Lentils
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp butter or ghee
  • 6 medium garlic cloves peeled and minced (2 tablespoons)
  • 2 tbsp peeled fresh ginger minced
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground dried turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp table salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground dried cayenne up to
  • 1 cinnamon stick 4-inchstick
  • 4 green or white cardamom pods
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 large round red tomato chopped (1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • 1/2 cup brown lentils
  • 4 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
Course Main Course
Cuisine Modern
Difficulty Easy
Browse Category Rice & Pastas
Duration 30-60 min
Cooking Technique Max Pressure Cook, Pressure Cook, Sauté
Main Ingredient Butter, Lentils
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Servings
6 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp butter or ghee
  • 6 medium garlic cloves peeled and minced (2 tablespoons)
  • 2 tbsp peeled fresh ginger minced
  • 1 tbsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground dried turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp table salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground dried cayenne up to
  • 1 cinnamon stick 4-inchstick
  • 4 green or white cardamom pods
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 large round red tomato chopped (1 cup)
  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • 1/2 cup brown lentils
  • 4 cups Water
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
Votes: 2
Rating: 4.5
Rate this recipe!
Print Recipe
Instructions
  1. Press Saute, set time for 5 minutes.
  2. Melt the butter in the cooker. Add the garlic, ginger, garam masala, cumin, turmeric, salt, cayenne, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and bay leaves. Stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato and cook, stirring often, until it just begins to break down, 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Turn off the SAUTE function. Stir in the red lentils, brown lentils, and chana dal until coated in the spices. Stir in the water and lock the lid onto the pot.
  4. Optional 1 Max Pressure Cooker
    Press Pressure cook on Max pressure for 16 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
  5. Optional 2 All Pressure Cookers
    Press Meat/Stew or Pressure cook (Manual) on High pressure for 20 minutes with the Keep Warm setting off.
  6. Use the quick-release method to bring the pot’s pressure back to normal. Unlatch the lid and open the cooker. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, and bay leaves. Stir in the cream until uniform, then set the lid askew over the pot for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Stir again before serving.
Recipe Notes

Beyond
• If you want to have the “full bean” experience (and a less thick curry), substitute dried black-eyed peas for the red lentils.
• Serve the curry with packaged na’an or other flatbreads.

2 replies
  1. Nbouck
    Nbouck says:

    Put everything together; started the instapot and relized there were only 2 lentils listed in the ingredient list! Did see reference to Chana Dal in the directions…disappointed I did not see that sooner…so while the flavor was good, this was basically lentil soup

  2. john.vanwoensel@gmail.com
    john.vanwoensel@gmail.com says:

    Very tasty, i like the explanation of why the substitutions are better! Would give five stars if it wasn’t that the chana dal are not listed as an ingredient, but they show up as a surprise ingredient in the instructions. Fortunately i had some and figured on half a cup.

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