Instant Pot Yellow Moong Dal Fry

Instant Pot Yellow Moong Dal Fry

Easy and delicious yellow moong dal fry made in instant pot (a very quick and easy one pot Indian dish) is perfect with rice or enjoy this as a side dish with Indian flatbread like chapathi, poori etc.

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Keyword instant pot dal curry, instant pot dal fry, instant pot dal recipe, instant pot moong dal, instant pot yellow moong dal, moong dal fry, moong dal tadka

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 18

pressure build up and release time 15

Total Time 28

Servings

Calories 251kcal

Author PA

Equipment

instant pot duo or lux 6 quart

Ingredients

¾ cup yellow split moong dal yellow split mung beans
1 large onion
1 tomato
2 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
2 cups water for cooking
1 cup extra water or more for gravy (optional)
¼ salt adjust as needed
1 tablespoon ghee optional
½ teaspoon turmeric powder
½ teaspoon red chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 small cinnamon sticks
1 string curry leaves optional

For seasoning

2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

For garnishing

2 tablespoons coriander leaves chopped (cilantro leaves)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Wash and peel the onion, cut the onions into small pieces, keep the chopped onions aside.
Wash and chop the tomatoes also into small pieces, keep this aside separately from the onions.
Add oil to the inner pot, press the saute function, adjust to low and add the cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds is lightly fried, add the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks too and lightly fry which takes a few more seconds.
Add the garlic and saute for another one minute.
Add the chopped onions and little salt, saute for another 4 to 5 minutes until the onions are lightly sauteed.
If the heat is low, you can always adjust the settings by pressing the 'keep warm' button, then press the saute button again and press adjust to change the level from low to medium.
Once the onions are lightly sauteed, add the moong dal and lightly fry for another 2 to 3 minutes until the raw smell goes away.
If needed you may add a little more oil and fry the contents.
The moong dal will have a tendency to stick to the bottom of the pot, so you need a good spatula to stir the contents frequently (and scrape the bottom of the pot if necessary) to avoid the dal sticking to the pot. If the pot gets too hot, adjust the heat to low in saute mode again.
Add the chopped tomatoes and lightly fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.
Add the spice powders and mix well, stir fry for about 2 more minutes in low heat until the raw smell of spices go away. Press the 'keep warm/cancel' button to stop the saute function.
Add the 2 cups of water, ghee (if using, you may avoid ghee if you want to keep this vegan) and enough salt and mix everything well.
Make sure there is no dal stuck to the bottom of the pot to avoid any burning of dal.
Close the pot with lid in sealing position and press manual, cook in high pressure for 4 minutes.
It took few minutes to come to pressure and start the cooking, so you will need to wait until the cooking is done.
Once the cooking is done, the pot will beep and you can press the 'keep warm/cancel' button. Wait for the instant pot to naturally release all pressure.
If needed, you can do a manual release (by turning the lid to venting position slowly to release the remaining pressure) after an NPR (natural pressure release) of about 10 minutes.
Once the pressure is all released, open the pot by carefully turning the lid to venting position.
Gently mash the contents using a spoon and check the salt, if needed, you may add a little more salt.
To make little more gravy for the dal fry and to make the dal a little more soft (Optional), add the remaining one cup of water and press the saute function, adjust to normal and simmer for another 2 more minutes or until desired thickness is reached.
Stir well, garnish with cilantro leaves (coriander leaves), gently mix in and serve the delicious hot dal with rice for lunch or dinner.
You can also add an extra spoon of ghee with the dal when serving with rice, which will make the dal and rice even more delicious!

Notes

The dal may have a tendency to thicken as it sits for a while. If needed you may add more water as needed and you can always reheat the contents by using the saute function and simmering for a couple of minutes. For extra soft dal which, you can use 3 cups of water for cooking and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes of time (so total time of 6 minutes) if you prefer very soft dal.

Nutrition