North Indian Home Style Toor Dal (Arhar Dal)
Dal is a staple in most Indian households, and this North Indian Home Style Toor Dal (Arhar Dal), along with steamed rice is my ultimate comfort food. Make it in a traditional pressure or an instant pot.
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
To Cook The Dal
- 1 cup toor dal (arhar dal, split yellow pigeon peas)
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
For Tempering
- 2 tablespoons ghee replace with oil for vegan
- 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
- ¼ teaspoon asafetida (hing) skip for gluten-free
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon Kashmiri red chili powder
Instructions
Cook Toor Dal
In A Traditional Pressure Cooker
- Wash dal 2-3 times with water until the water runs clear.
- Soak it in 3-4 cups of water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water and add the soaked dal to a pressure cooker.
- Add 3 and ½ cups of water, turmeric powder, and salt, and stir gently.
- Close the lid of the cooker and cook the dal for 1 whistle over high heat.
- Now reduce the heat to low and cook for 12 minutes.
- Remove the cooker from heat and let the pressure release naturally.
- Open the lid and whisk the dal well using a wire whisk. Add lime juice and mix well.
- Add some boiling hot water if the dal is thick for your liking and mix well.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
In An Instant Pot
- Wash dal 2-3 times with water until the water runs clear.
- Soak it in 3-4 cups of water for 30 minutes.
- Drain the water and add the soaked dal to an instant pot.
- Add 3 cups of water, turmeric powder, and salt, and stir gently.
- Close the lid of the instant pot and set the valve to the sealing position.
- Press PRESSURE COOK and set the timer to 12 minutes at high pressure.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
- Release the remaining pressure manually and open the lid.
- Whisk the dal well using a wire whisk. Add lime juice and mix well.
- Add some boiling hot water if the dal is thick for your liking and mix well.
- Check for salt and add more if needed.
Temper Arhar Dal
- Heat ghee in a small pan over medium-high heat.
- Once the ghee is hot, add garlic and fry until browned, stirring continuously.
- Add asafetida and cumin seeds and let them crackle for 3-4 seconds.
- Switch off the heat and add chili powder to the pan.
- Pour the tempering immediately over the dal and mix well. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
You can add some chopped tomatoes while cooking the dal.
This recipe requires a 3-quart instant pot or a 3-liter pressure cooker. If you want to double or triple the recipe, use a bigger pot or cooker. The time of cooking will remain the same.
Tempering Variations
Hing Jeera Red Chilli Tadka - Just keep it simple and give the dal a tadka of only cumin seeds, dry red chilies, and hing in ghee.
It is excellent for people looking for a No Onion, No Garlic version of this Dal.
Khatta Mitha Dal Tadka - Give arhar dal a tempering of ghee, hing, dry red chilies, mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds (methi dana), cumin seeds, peanuts, tomatoes, red chili powder, curry leaves. Add tamarind pulp and grated jaggery and mix well.
Onion Green Chilli Tadka - Sometimes, I give my garlic tadka a break and add some finely chopped green chilies and thinly sliced onions to the tadka.
You can also add finely chopped garlic and ginger along with green chilies.
Tomato Dal Tadka is one of my favorite tadka to add to the toor dal.
You will need ghee, dry red chilies, hing, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped onions, red chili powder, and chopped tomatoes.
Punjabi Dal Tadka - This is a simple tadka, which is made in many households.
You will need ghee, cumin seeds, garlic, onions, tomatoes, and red chili powder for this one.
Nutrition
Calories: 242kcal | Carbohydrates: 30g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 19mg | Sodium: 20mg | Potassium: 481mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 219IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 4mg
