This pressure cooker dry urad dal or sookhi urad dal recipe is for a classic Punjabi dish that you will probably never get outside of someone's home. Easy, protein-packed vegan punch of deliciousness.
It's not sexy, it's not served in restaurants, few non-Punjabis have probably tried it--but it is absolutely delicious.
This was one of my favorite dals to eat as a child, but it's not easy to make and needs babysitting because you need to get the proportion of water and dal just right to make it dry.
But using your Instant Pot or Pressure cooker to make this Sookhi Urad Dal makes this dish a breeze.
BUT FIRST! A HINDI LESSON
Sookhi means dry. Typically dals are liquid, like thick soups. What makes this dal different is that it's made to be a dry accompaniment to your chappatis, rotis, naans, etc.
This actually makes it very handy for travel, when you don't want to be messing with a bunch of sloshing liquid, but still want a little dal protein in your meal.
This recipe is actually perfect for using the Kuhn Rikon pull chop I recommend for the tomatoes and onions. Speeds up prep even more.
TIPS FOR MAKING PRESSURE COOKER SOOKHI URAD DAL SUCCESSFULLY
- Use SPLIT urad dal, not whole. This is a white, small little cute dal. Do not try this with whole urad dal. You'll have a crunchy mess on your hands
- You will wonder if it has enough water in it. I stood and stared for a long time because I wanted just the right amount of water so as to not have to evaporate the excess and potentially overcook the dal.
- If you just can't stand it, put an extra 1/4 cup of water just in case.
- Do not shortcut the NPR cycle. The dal continues to cook with a lowered chance of burning while it is releasing pressure naturally.
EQUIPMENT & INGREDIENTS YOU MAY NEED TO MAKE PRESSURE COOKER SOOKHI URAD DAL RECIPE:
- Instant Pot Mini Duo or Instant Pot 6 quart or Instant Pot 8 Quart
- Measuring cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Cutting Board (my fav one)
- Good set of Kitchen knives
- Pull chop for veggies if you struggle with your hands or just like evenly chopped veggies
Ingredients
For the Dal
- 1 cup (200 g) Split Urad Dal
- 1.5 cups (187.5 ml) Water
- 2 teaspoons (2 teaspoons) Ghee or Oil
- 1 cup (160 g) Onion
- 1 cup (149 g) Tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Cayenne Pepper
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Garam Masala
- 1 teaspoon (1 teaspoon) Amchoor
For Finishing
- 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup (4 g) chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Add all dal ingredients into your pressure cooker at the same time.
- Cook it on high pressure for 4 minutes and let it release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Then release all remaining pressure.
- Mix in the lemon juice and taste, adjusting as necessary.
- Garnish with cilantro.
- Serve with flatbreads of your choice, such as naan, roti, lavash, etc.
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Nutrition
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Indian Instant Pot, Keto Instant Pot, Instant Pot Fast and Easy, Healthy Instant Pot & Vegetarian Instant Pot.
kittykatlitter
This turned out great! I was a little nervous about the amount of water, so I added the extra 1/4 cup. My tomato was pretty wet as it turned out and so my dal was pretty wet when I opened my instant pot. I thought about trying to cook off the liquid, but then I decided to just hit it a few times with my immersion blender instead. It worked really well! The dal thickened up nicely and had a great texture. I will definitely try making this again, but with the right amount of water haha.
Barbara
I'm trying to follow a salt, sugar and oil free diet. Do you think the oil in this recipe is mandatory? Can I add broth or some other liquid to substitute for it?
TwoSleevers
It's only two teaspoons so it's not necessary to replace with anything else. The pot will still come to pressure just fine without it. The oil or ghee is mostly to keep the dal from sticking together. I haven't tried it without the oil or ghee before, but it should turn out delicious without.
Michael Hibbs
The conversion from ml to cups is wrong: 187.5 ml is about 3/4 cup of water. I am guessing that you really want 3/4 cup water for a "dry" dal. The people who found the urad dal undercooked might want to check the seal on their pressure cookers. The recipe says to cook 4 minutes over heat, then to let it cool naturally for 10 minutes while still under pressure. If your cooker is releasing the pressure too quickly, or if you release the pressure manually before 10 minutes, the dal will stop cooking too soon and will be underdone.
Colm
I'd love to try this recipe, but I don't have an instant pot. Is the timing the same for a stove-top pressure cooker?
AshleyThompson
Yes, the cooking time should be the same under pressure, no matter the type of cooker you're using. Let me know how it turns out with this method!
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AM
I can’t quite understand the negative reviews about the dal not cooking completely; I got scared reading those reviews and added the additional 1/4 cup water. Cooked the rest as per recipe and it was overdone and mushy, so I think next time I’ll follow the recipe as is and it should be perfect. Thank you!
URVASHI PITRE
Thank you. I don’t understand them either. I rested well before posting
AM
Does the dal need to be soaked prior to cooking?
URVASHI PITRE
No it doesn’t.
pggooch
Thanks for the recipe, it was the first I did in my new instant pot! It tasted good.
I had to change the amount of water (got "burn" quite quickly) and time (did 8 minutes in the end - probably just a different white urid daal). Just wanted to point out the conversion to metric isn't working - it changes from 1/2 teaspoon cayenne to a whole teaspoon! Also it says 1.5 cups of water is 187.5ml - shouldn't it be around 350ml? I was pleased to see a conversion though, I have cups, but am more used to weight.
Thanks again, I shall try other recipes.