Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal | Toor Dal and Rice

Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal is Indian comfort food made easy. Once you learn how to make rice and dal at the same time in your Instant Pot, putting together a nutritious dinner will be easy as—well as rice and dal!

What Makes This Rice and Toor Dal Recipe So Great?

• Fast. Ready in under 30 minutes.
• Easy. A one-pot Instant Pot recipe.
• Authentic. All of the flavors you would expect from Indian food.
• Vegetarian. A great choice for Meatless Monday, or any other day of the week.
• Delicious. The epitome of comfort food.

Ever wondered how to make rice and dal in a pressure cooker at the same time? Well, I'm about to show you.

Unlike American meals where every day is something different, Indian meals have certain elements in common every day.

They traditionally have rice, dal, chappati, a vegetable, usually a salad/cold vegetable, a chutney of sorts, and plain yogurt.

In this recipe, the toor dal is already made when done, with no extra steps required. Even more efficient! It also tastes different from a day fry so it’s a nice way to mix it up a bit. For this recipe, I used Toor Dal.

How Long Does It Take To Cook Dal In A Pressure Cooker?

Unlike when you try to cook dal on your stovetop, it cooks quite quickly in the Instant Pot. Believe it or not, it only takes 20 minutes to cook your Instant Pot Rice and Dal.

How To Make Rice And Dal Recipe In Your Pressure Cooker

Okay, I am going to show you each of the steps here so we know how to do this.

1. First, you heat the Instant Pot. When it's hot, add oil. When the oil is hot, add mustard and cumin seeds, ginger, garlic, and serrano.
2. Then, you're going to add the onions and tomatoes, and all the spices. You just want to let the spices bloom a little. You put them on top of the veggies so they don't burn.
3. Add the dal, and the water. I'm using split yellow pigeon peas here, or Toor dal, but you can do this with any type of split lentils.
4. On top of that trivet, you're going to put your rinsed rice, water to cook the rice, ghee, and salt. Notice I don't cover the rice. You don't need to. If you're making some kind of cake or something that needs to be kept dry, that's different. But for rice, I rarely cover it.

5. On top of that trivet, you're going to put your rinsed rice, water to cook the rice, ghee, and salt. Notice I don't cover the rice. You don't need to. If you're making some kind of cake or something that needs to be kept dry, that's different. But for rice, I rarely cover it.

6. Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, and allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Then release all remaining pressure.

7. Using little silicone mitts, carefully remove the rice, as well as the steamer rack.

8. Check the consistency of the dal. You want a thick mixture akin to porridge. Serve each bowl with rice and dal, and pass around some extra ghee or whatever you’re using as a substitute to pour over your piping hot and lovely rice and dal.

Love how easy it was to make this toor dal in your Instant Pot? Here's a complete guide to making Instant Pot Beans and Lentils.

MORE ONE POT PRESSURE COOKER MEALS

• Instant Pot Butter Chicken is an easy 30-minute dinner and you can make rice on top of it, as the video shows.
• Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal is a great vegetarian rice dinner.
• This Lebanese Lentil and Rice dish is another great Vegetarian Instant Pot recipe.
• Instant Pot Indian Khichadi is comfort food in a bowl!
• Instant Pot Risotto with Shrimp is another one-pot comfort meal.
• Buffalo chicken casserole for the days you want low carb recipes
• You might also like low carb Chicken Biryani that uses riced cauliflower.
• Chicken and Mushrooms are a great combo.
• My kids love Instant Pot Pork Chops with Rice and Vegetables
• Zucchini Lasagna- You won't even miss the pasta.
• Haluski Recipe - A wonderful cabbage and noodles recipe.

If you love a great comfort meal, an easy dinner, or the traditional Indian flavors in this Instant Pot Rice and Dal, make sure you share this recipe with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest so they can try it too.

Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal

Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal is Indian comfort food made easy. Once you learn how to make rice and dal at the same time in your Instant Pot, putting together a nutritious dinner will be easy as—well as dal and rice!

Print Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes minutes

Course: Main Courses

Cuisine: Indian

Keyword: Instant Pot Rice and Dal, Pressure Cooker Rice and Dal, Rice and Dal

Servings: 6

Calories: 299kcal

Click on highlighted ingredients or Equipment to see exactly what I use to make this recipe

Ingredients

For the Dal

• ▢ 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Ghee, coconut oil, or oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) cumin seeds
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Black Mustard Seeds, or use additional 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• ▢ 1 (1) Jalapeño Peppers, chopped into big visible pieces (Optional)
• ▢ 6 cloves (6 cloves) Garlic, smashed
• ▢ 2 inch piece (4) Ginger, cut into thin slices
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Turmeric
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt
• ▢ 1 cup (160 g) onions, chopped
• ▢ 1 cup (149 g) diced tomatoes
• ▢ 1 cup (192 g) Toor Dal, yellow pigeon peas, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 2.5 cups (625 ml) Water

For the rice

• ▢ 1 cup (185 g) Basmati Rice, rinsed and drained
• ▢ 1 cup (250 ml) Water
• ▢ 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) Ghee, butter, or coconut oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Kosher Salt

For Finishing

• ▢ ¼ cup (4 g) Chopped Cilantro or Parsley
• ▢ Additional ghee, butter, coconut oil or Earth balance to add on top of rice and dal

Instructions

• In a 6 x 3 pan, add all ingredients of the rice, mix well, and set aside. (you can use a larger or smaller pan for the rice with impunity. It’s a pretty forgiving way to make perfect rice).
• Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté (high heat setting). When the pot reads HOT, add ghee, or coconut oil/oil.
• Once this oil starts to shimmer indicating that it is hot, add cumin seeds, mustard seeds, and the chili if using, and stand back. These seeds will sputter like popcorn within 10-15 seconds.
• Add the ginger and garlic and sauté for 10 seconds.
• Add onions, tomatoes, turmeric, and salt, and stir until well mixed.
• Pour in toor dal and water and scrape well to ensure nothing has stuck to the bottom.
• Place the tall steamer rack inside this liner (on top of the dal basically) 
• Place the pan of rice on the steamer. It is not necessary to cover the rice.
• Cook at high pressure for 10 minutes, and allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Then release all remaining pressure.
• Using little silicone mitts, carefully remove the rice, as well as the steamer rack.
• Check the consistency of the dal. You want a thick mixture akin to porridge.
• Serve each bowl with rice and dal, and pass around some extra ghee or whatever you’re using as a substitute to pour over your piping hot and lovely rice and dal.

Watch The Video

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Cooking Group Keto Group

Nutrition

Calories: 299kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 5g | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 4g

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Originally published November 21, 2017

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