Toor Dal in Instant Pot: No Soak Arhar Dal Recipe

Toor dal is a warm and comforting lentil curry that is super quick and easy to make in an instant pot. This instant pot toor dal recipe yields a soulful bowl of creamy, aromatic, spicy, and earthy curry. It makes for a great vegetarian (or vegan) dinner or lunch meal. It barely takes 10 minutes of active cooking to make toor dal in an instant pot.

Jump to:

• Introduction to the toor dal recipe
• 🥘 Ingredient for making toor dal in an instant pot
• 🔪 Equipment Required for making toor dal recipe in an instant pot
• How to make toor dal in the instant pot?
• 💭 Recipe tips for making perfect toor dal in an instant pot
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Suggested recipes
• Toor Dal in Instant Pot
• 📋 Nutrition Facts

Introduction to the toor dal recipe

What is toor dal?

For my non-Indian readers, let me try to familiarize you with Toor dal. It is the yellow split pigeon pea lentil.  The Toor dal is made by spitting and polishing the yellow pigeon peas.

It has other vernacular names in India, i.e., Arhar Dal and Tuvar Dal. Toor dal is most popularly used for making sambar.

Toor dal (like most lentils) is a highly nutritious and excellent source of proteins in a vegetarian diet.

 Why does this instant pot toor dal recipe work?

• It is quick. Instant cooks the food fast. IPs are ideal for cooking dried grains and legumes. Toor dal is no exception. Also, I have used tomato paste instead of chopped tomatoes which take longer to sweat and cook. It just takes a few minutes of active cooking.
  
• Easy to make. Just dump ingredients into the instant pot, and you should be good to go.
  
• One-pot recipe. And that happens to be your instant pot. Read the section on pressure cooker toor dal, if not using an instant pot.
  
• Versatile recipe. This instant pot dal recipe can be used to make dal palak or lauki toor dal. ( read the recipe notes)
  
• No soak recipe. This recipe calls for no soaking of the toor dal. If you happen to soak, adjust the water and timing as per the recipe notes
  
• This recipe is gluten free. Look no further if you are looking for a healthy, comforting, and gluten-free curry recipe.
  
• It uses very basic ingredients. And I provide all sorts of possible substitutions in the ingredients section.
  
• Replace ghee with vegetable oil of your choice, and you can make vegan toor dal.
  
  

🥘 Ingredient for making toor dal in an instant pot

Toor dal/ Arhar dal/ Tuvar dal

So as discussed above, Toor dal is the split and polished yellow pigeon peas. This dried lentil makes an excellent creamy curry. To make into that, we need to wash and soak it. But what if you do not have time to absorb the lentil? Worry not. Just follow the recipe, and you will be there.

Red Onion

I used half of a large red onion. If you have a medium-sized onion, use the whole onion. The key is to chop it very finely. The onion will sweat and melt into the gravy on cooking. It gives flavor and body to the sauce of the dal.

Red onion or shallots works best for Indian curry recipes, and this toor dal recipe is no exception. But if you cannot find them in your grocery store, go for yellow onions.

Ginger and garlic

Ginger and garlic are the base flavoring for our instant pot toor dal recipe. You can use homemade or store-bought ginger garlic paste or fresh ginger and garlic as I have used in the recipe.

Tomato Paste

Please do not replace tomato paste with tomato puree. You will need to increase the amount if you use tomato puree or canned diced tomatoes. Tomato paste is denser and more concentrated. Two tablespoons give enough richness to your curry. To replace it, you can use:

• 3 Ripe medium-sized tomatoes (diced)
• 1 cup of canned diced tomato
• 1 cup tomato puree

Ghee or cooking oil

Ghee is best for the flavor. But if you want to cut on those saturated fats or make this recipe vegan, stick to some vegetable oil. I like to use avocado oil or canola oil.

Spices

• Whole red chili. You can skip it or replace it with two green chilies or serrano peppers.

• Cumin seeds. Cumin seeds are a must in the toor dal recipe. If you do not have it, just omit it and replace it with cumin powder. Add cumin powder with the chopped cilantro on opening the instant pot when toor dal is ready. If you do not have any of this, replace one teaspoon of cumin seeds with black mustard seeds.

• Coriander powder. The dry coriander seeds are ground into powdered form. I like to grind them at home and store them in an airtight container.

• Garam masala is a mix of spices that is very generic in Indian dishes. You can use the store-bought or homemade mix of dry spices here.

• Salt and chili powder. Adjust them according to your taste and preferences.

Ingredients For Tempering or Tadka

Since we have added a lot of spices and flavoring at the beginning of the recipe, the final tempering is just an additional step. It is not at all necessary.

I used some dry red chilies, cumin seeds, and red chili powder to make a final tempering that makes this arhar dal or tuvar dal smoky and delicious!

Garnishes

• Chopped cilantro. Sort, wash and finely chop cilantro leaves for adding to the toor dal after opening the instant pot.
• Ghee. Add a teaspoon of ghee or butter on top to make it more flavorful and aromatic.

🔪 Equipment Required for making toor dal recipe in an instant pot

Instant pot

I have made this toor dal recipe in 6 qt Instant Pot Duo Nova. If you have a larger or smaller instant pot, the exact timings might vary by a minute or two. For making this recipe in 3 Qt, add 2 minutes to the pressure cooking time. And reduce the pressure cooking time by 1 minute if using an eight qt instant pot.

How to make toor dal in the instant pot?

Step 1 Prepping the ingredients

Start by measuring the toor dal, wash it, and set it aside. You also let it soak in water while you prep other ingredients.

Chop the onion finely, mince garlic, and grated ginger. Pull out all the spices and keep them at a hand's distance. While preparing tadka, you must be quick with adding the dry spices. They are sheer powders and burn very quickly. Also, keep a glass of water close.

Step 2 Prepare masala for toor dal in an instant pot

Set the instant pot pressure cooker in sauté mode for 8 minutes at High. Add oil ( or ghee), followed by red chilies and cumin seeds. Add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger as the seeds start to sizzle. Sauté them while stirring until they sweat and begin to turn goldish.

Now quickly add chili powder, turmeric powder, garam masala, black cardamom powder, and salt. Give it a quick stir and add ¼ cup of water. Mix well and add tomato paste. Mix tomato paste and let it cook for two minutes or until it starts to leave oil.

Now add the toor dal and mix well. Add 3 cups of water and close the lid of the instant pot.

Step 3 Pressure cook toor dal in an Instant pot

Cancel the sauté mode and select the pressure cook mode at custom. Set the time to 7 minutes at High. When done, cancel the “keep hot” option and let the pressure release naturally. This timing will work if you want grains intact in your dal yet perfectly cooked.

If you like super smooth, soup consistency dal, add 2 more minutes to the toor dal instant pot cooking time ( 9 minutes in total) and let the pressure release naturally.

When the pressure has released, open the lid of the instant pot. Dal should be ready. You should be able to see dal grains as a whole, but on pressing, they should be mushy.

Some people like runny, mashed dal. If that is you, just grab a metal whisk and whisk the cooked dal to turn into soupy dal. People prefer this daal ( split pigeon pea soup) in central and south India.

Step 4 Add the tempering and serve

Heat oil in a small saucepan. Then add whole dry chilis and cumin. As the cumin sizzles, add red chili powder. Give a quick stir and pour the tempering over the cooked dal.

Mix it with a ladle into the dal and quickly cover the instant pot. Let the dal absorb all the smokiness of the tempering for 2 minutes.

Now, open the instant pot lid and transfer the dal into a serving bowl. Serve hot with rice or roti.

How to make toor dal (pulses) without soaking on the stovetop in a pressure cooker?

Usually, we make toor dal in pressure cookers over stops. It’s just that the instant pots have changed the game. Let us go back to basics and make no soak toor dal in our conventional pressure cookers.

To make toor dal in a pressure cooker, start by placing a pressure cooker on flame. Then add oil, followed by whole spices, i.e., red chilies and cumin seeds.  Add chopped onions, garlic, and ginger as they start to sizzle. Sauté until they turn golden yellow. Keep stirring regularly.

Then add all the powdered spices and give them a mix. Now add ¼ cup of water and put in the tomato paste. Mix well and let the tomato paste cook until it starts to leave the oil on the sides. Now add the toor dal, mix and add water slightly more than 3 cups. Somewhat 3+¼ cups of water as pressure cookers keep releasing the water in the form of steam, unlike instant pots.

Let it cook at high heat until you get 3 whistles (3 steam release cycles). Then reduce the flame to low and let it simmer for 12 minutes.

Then turn off the flame and let the pressure release naturally. Open the lid of the pressure cooker. Add chopped cilantro and a dash of lime.

Serve hot with rice, chapati, naan, or paratha.

Timings for making soaked toor dal

• If you soaked the toor dal for half an hour, pressure cooks toor dal for 6 minutes at high and let the pressure release naturally.

Please note that the timings are tested for instant pot Duo Nova 6 qt.

What to serve along with toor dal?

Toor dal makes a great dinner as well as a lunch meal. Dal rice is a staple Indian food. So, serve it alongside cooked basmati rice or flatbreads like naan, pita bread, roti, or paratha. Alongside serve some salad and raita. And there, you have a complete Indian meal at your disposal.

Variations of the toor dal recipe

There are three most popular variations of toor dal.

1. Thalicha Paruppu/ Paruppu Kadaiyal. It is a south Indian variation, where dal is just boiled with salt in an instant pot, and then a basic south Indian tempering is added. Mustard seeds, Heeng ( asafetida), turmeric, red chili powder, and curry leaves are added to hot oil(or ghee) to prep the tempering.
   
2. Toor dal fry. In toor dal fry, toor dal is soaked for more than an hour and is preferably cooked in an open pot or pan, as we do not need the toor dal to be mushy. Then, it is given an additional tempering or tadka, just like dal tadka.
   
   

🫙 Storage notes

Refrigerate the leftover toor dal in an airtight container for 2-4 days.  For prolonged storage, freeze in a freezer-safe container for weeks.

To thaw frozen dal, defrost it in a microwave, or thaw overnight in the fridge. You can let it self-thaw by leaving it at room temperature for 3-4 hours.

💭 Recipe tips for making perfect toor dal in an instant pot

• Make sure to discard the water used for soaking the lentils, if soaked at all.
  
• Use the same cup to measure toor dal and water. If serving it with rice, use 3 cups of water per 1 cup of toor dal. If you plan to serve it alongside roti, use only 2 ½ cups of water.
  
• Adjust water if you soaked the dal for more than an hour. It has probably absorbed a good amount of water. Use only 2 cups of water in the recipe.
  
• If making the toor dal without soaking in the pressure cooker, add ¼ cup of water. Pressure cookers keep releasing steam while cooking, whereas the instant pots lock in the moisture and no water is lost while cooking.
  
• If you soaked the toor dal for over half an hour, pressure cook cooks dal for 6 minutes at high and let the pressure release naturally.
  
• Skip ghee to make the vegan toor dal in an instant pot or pressure cooker.
  
• Size of the instant pot matters. I have made this toor dal recipe in 6 qt Instant pot duo Nova. If you have a larger or smaller instant pot, the exact timings might vary by a minute or two. For making this recipe in 3 Qt, add 2 minutes to the cooking time. And reduce the pressure cook time by 1 minute if using an 8 qt instant pot.
  

Frequently Asked Questions

Suggested recipes

More instant pot recipes that might interest you are as follows

• Chana Dal in Instant Pot: No-soak Split Chickpea Lentil Curry
  
• Everything you need to know about easily making Ghee in Instant pot and stovetop
  
• How to bake perfect bread in Instant pot
  
• Daal Palak | How to make Indian Palak dal recipe?
  
• Dal Makhani: No soak pressure cook recipe
  
• Masala Urad dal
  
• How to make Authentic Chana masala recipe with canned chickpeas
  
• Sweet corn masala
  

Some Indian cuisine-inspired air fryer recipes:

• Pakoras in Air Fryer: Crispy and Healthy!
  
• Air Fryer Frozen Broccoli Spiced to Perfection!
  
• Air Fryer Plantain Chips- Kerala Style Banana Chips
  
• Frozen Cauliflower in air fryer : A Quick Recipe

I hope you will like this toor dal instant pot unsoaked recipe. Share your results and opinions in the comment section below. Also, subscribe to never miss a recipe.

Till then,

Make it delicious and quick!