Malwa Dal Recipe
Malwa Dal is a light and delicious Indian lentil recipe popular in the Malwa region (some parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) of India. Make it for your everyday meals using this easy recipe.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
For The Dal
- 1 cup toor dal (pigeon peas lentils)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- ½ cup chopped tomatoes
For The Tempering
- 2 tablespoons ghee
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped ginger
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
- 2 green chilies slit into half
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh coriander leaves)
Instructions
Cook The Dal
- In An Instant Pot
- Wash the dal and add it to an instant pot along with 2 and ½ cups of water, turmeric powder, salt, and tomatoes.
- Secure the lid and set the valve to the sealing position.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 10 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
- Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid.
- Add lime juice juice to the dal and mix well.
- Add some water if the dal is too thick for your liking.
- Check for salt and add more if required.
- In A Traditional Pressure Cooker
- Wash the dal and add it to a pressure cooker along with 3 and ½ cups of water, turmeric powder, salt, and tomatoes.
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 1 whistle on high heat.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove the cooker from the heat and let the pressure release naturally and then open the lid.
- Add lime juice juice to the dal and mix well.
- Add some water if the dal is too thick for your liking.
- Check for salt and add more if required.
Temper The Dal
- Heat ghee in a small pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add asafetida and cumin seeds and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- Add ginger, garlic and green chilies and fry until garlic becomes golden brown in color, stirring frequently.
- Switch off the heat and add Kashmiri red chilli powder to the pan.
- Immediately pour the tempering over the dal.
- Garnish the malwa dal with fresh coriander and serve hot.
Notes
This dal is supposed to be thin and soupy. If you like a thicker dal, reduce the amount of water used to cook it. Add 2 cups instead of 2 and ½ cups if cooking the dal in an instant pot, and add 2 and ½ cups instead of 3 cups if cooking it in a traditional stovetop pressure cooker.
To make the Malwa dal vegan, replace ghee with coconut oil or any other oil of your choice.
You can avoid adding garlic to make a no-onion, no-garlic version.
Avoid adding asafetida (hing) to make it gluten-free.
Nutrition
Calories: 251kcal | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 90mg | Potassium: 515mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 390IU | Vitamin C: 10.5mg | Calcium: 27mg | Iron: 4mg
