Cabbage Red Lentil Dal Curry – Indian Masoor Dal & Cabbage

Cabbage red lentil dal curry is easy to make, nutritious, vegetarian and vegan dal curry with cabbage leaves & spices that goes great with rice or Indian breads like chapathi or poori.

Instant pot masoor dal cabbage curry or Indian style red lentil curry with cabbage is a very easy, delicious cabbage curry or curried cabbage with spices and red lentils.

We use red split lentils (masoor dal) in this easy Indian style cabbage curry and it is so easy to make in the instant pot pressure cooker.

This easy Indian cabbage dal fry goes great as a side dish with rice or Indian flatbread like chapathi, poori etc.

I have already made instant pot buttered cabbage which is a very simple and easy instant pot cabbage recipe where you can cook a medium sized cabbage or about half of it using a 6 quart instant pot.

Cabbage is easy to cook on stove top as well, but this dal recipe is super easy to make in the instant pot pressure cooker!

In this cabbage dal fry, we use about two cups of shredded cabbage (the amount of cabbage may be adjusted slightly based on preference) along with masoor dal.

This is a soft cooked cabbage and dal curry where both cabbage & dal are cooked into a soft texture to make a creamy, delicious curry.

That is the perfect texture for this creamy curried cabbage (without using any cream!) and its simple and delicious!

Make sure to follow the recipe correctly because sometimes the combination of cabbage & dal can be quite tricky and to get the flavors and texture right & perfect, it is important to follow every step of the recipe correctly.

Also make sure not to skip the seasoning for cabbage dal fry because it adds a lot of flavor to this dish.

What Is Masoor Dal (Red Lentils)?

Masoor dal is a kind of lentils used in Indian cooking, mostly Indian vegetarian recipes.

Masoor dal is mostly available as split lentils and the color of these lentils is light orange red or light pink and so they are commonly referred as red lentils.

Masoor dal or red lentils are so easy to cook just like yellow moong dal.

In fact, once these red masoor dal is cooked, the color turns yellow and they look much like yellow moong dal (yellow split mung beans) or toor dal (yellow pigeon peas).

So masoor dal can be interchangeably used in many recipes (not all recipes) where you use yellow moong dal or yellow toor dal.

Find more information on how to cook red lentils here!

You can also find an easy recipe for red lentil spinach dal here!

I have made this easy instant pot sambar without vegetables using red lentils/masoor dal (or toor dal), onions and vegetables which is so easy to make and too delicious even without any other vegetables.

The instant pot sambar without vegetables referred above can be made using either masoor dal or toor dal, which is an example of how you can interchangeably use masoor dal in many recipes.

Masoor dal or red lentils also have many health benefits and its ntritious.

They are also one of the best vegetarian vegan plant based protein sources which may be included in the vegetarian vegan diet.

You can learn more about the health benefits and nutrition of lentils (including other kinds) here.

So here is how you can make this easy curried cabbage with lentils or simple cabbage dal fry using cabbage, masoor dal and spices using the instant pot.

How To Make Masoor Dal Cabbage Curry In Instant Pot?

We use the following ingredients to make cabbage dal fry with masoor dal in instant pot.

Ingredients to make instant pot masoor dal with cabbage

cabbage shredded 2 cups

onion 1 medium sized sliced

masoor dal (red lentils) 1 cup

water 2 cups

salt as needed

oil 1 tablespoon

ginger garlic paste 1 teaspoon

turmeric powder 1 teaspoon

garam masala ½ teaspoon

red chili powder ½ teaspoon

for seasoning

oil 1 tablespoon (or use ghee or butter for a richer flavor)

cumin seeds 1 teaspoon

dry red chilies broken 4 to 5

minced onions 1 tablespoon (or shallots)

Step By Step Instructions

Add one tablespoon of oil and saute the sliced onions & ginger garlic paste in the instant pot for about a minute.

Also add the shredded cabbage and masoor dal and enough salt, mix everything well and saute for another 1 minute, while you keep stirring.

Press cancel to stop the saute function and then add the 2 cups of water to the instant pot.

Using a long spoon or spatula, make sure to deglaze the pot (after you pour in the water it should be easy) so there is nothing stuck in the bottom of the pot due to sauteeing. This step is important to prevent the burn error in instant pot.

Now add the spice powders (turmeric, red chili powder & garam masala) and mix everything well.

Close the instant pot with lid in sealing position and cook in high pressure for 8 minutes.

Wait for a natural pressure release.

Once the pressure is all released, carefully open the lid and stir the contents.

To adjust the consistency of the gravy you may add a little mor water and mix in with the dal (I added one more cup of water but this is optional). Switch off the instant pot and transfer the inner pot to a safe place so the dal won’t get overcooked.

To make the seasoning

Heat the remaining one tablespoon of oil (or ghee) in a separate small pan (on stove top).

Add the cumin seeds and lightly fry the seeds.

Add the broken red chilies & minced onions, fry until the onions are lightly browned.

Pour the prepared seasoning over the cabbage dal, stir in.

Delicious cabbage dal using masoor dal or red lentil cabbage curry is ready to be served!

Enjoy with cooked white rice (or brown rice) or Indian breads like chapathi (roti), puri etc.

Notes: You may also garnish the cabbage dal curry with curry leaves or chopped cilantro leaves if you wish.

More Cabbage Recipes

how to cook cabbage on stove top

boiled cabbage

instant pot buttered cabbage

cabbage thoran (poriyal)

cabbage and peas

sauteed cabbage with scrambled eggs for breakfast

cabbage stir fry with spices

tomato and cabbage soup vegan recipe

More Instant Pot Dal Recipes

instant pot moong dal fry

instant pot mung bean curry (green moong dal curry recipe)

instant pot mung bean soup

instant pot sambar Kerala style recipe

instant pot sambar without vegetables using masoor dal or toor dal

More Delicious Dal Recipes:

restaurant or dhaba style Indian dal tadka

green moong dal curry stove top recipe

moong dal sambar (pasi paruppu sambar)

parippu curry Kerala style dal with coconut

Below you can get the recipe for instant pot masoor dal and cabbage in detail.