Chana Dal Fry dishes are very popular and for a good reason. The combination of the creamy dal, the crisp and caramelized onions, the taste of the ghee and cumin seeds, and the occasional piece of tomato combine very well together, producing a complex range of flavors from a simple dish.
Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Dal Recipe
- Fast. A delicious meal ready in under 30 minutes .
- Easy. Fry up onions and spices while your dal cooks in the Instant Pot .
- Vegetarian. A great Vegetarian-friendly dish .
- Versatile. Use any split dal you have in your pantry.
What Is Chana Dal In English?
Chana is actually nothing more than split chickpeas, or garbanzo beans. For this dish, you can also have the cooked chana dal already using the PIP rice and Chana recipe I’ve provided here .
Or you can make it as the recipe calls for below, which is just the dal.
Does Chana Dal Need To Be Soaked?
Unlike some other lentils, this kind does not need to be soaked before you cook them. Since it is a split lentil, it cooks much faster than a whole bean.
Do I Have To Use AnInstant PotFor This Recipe?
No, you don’t. You can definitely cook the chana dal on the stovetop. It’s just that it takes a while and you have to keep an eye on the pot so it doesn’t boil over.
How To Make Stove Top Chana Dal
If you want to do this, here are the steps:
- Add 1 cup of Chana Dal to a large pan
- Add 1 cup of water
- Let simmer until fully cooked (about 30 minutes).
Is Chana Dal The Only Thing I Can Use In This Recipe?
Nope, it’s not. This can be made with any split dal, such as tuvar, masoor, moong, etc. The dal must be split though so don’t use whole beans, as what you want is a creamy final texture.
But I like chana dal and it is less likely to cause sugar/insulin spikes than some other dals, so if I must have dal, that’s what I have. Besides, chana dal just tastes so good to me.
So in this picture below, you can use ANY of these dals–except the little brown ones at the top, as that is a whole bean, not a split dal.
How To Make This Chana Dal Recipe
- First, cook the savory portion on the stovetop.
- Next, cook the dal in the Instant Pot.
- Mix the Chana Dal with the cooked spices and onions.
- Enjoy!
More Delicious Lentil Recipes
- Simple Lentil Soup
- Misir Wot
- Red Lentil Soup
- Instant Pot Barley and Lentil Pilaf
- How To Cook Lentils
If you love this Chana Dal Fry as much as we do, make sure you share it with your friends on Facebook and Pinterest so they can try it too!
Chana Dal Fry | A Delicious Instant Pot Chana Dal Recipe
Ingredients
Cook Together
- ▢ 1 cup ( 192 g ) chana dal, , (yellow split peas)
- ▢ 2 cups ( 500 ml ) Water
- ▢ 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
For the Fry part
- ▢ 4 teaspoons ( 4 teaspoons ) Ghee , or use coconut oil for dairy free
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ( 1/2 teaspoon ) cumin seeds
- ▢ 4 ( 4 ) Dried Red Chilis
- ▢ 6 cloves ( 6 cloves ) Garlic , minced
- ▢ 2 cup ( 2 cup ) Red Onion. chopped , thinly sliced
- ▢ 1 cup ( 2 ) Tomatoes , chopped
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 1 teaspoon ) Turmeric
- ▢ 1 teaspoon ( 1 teaspoon ) Ground Cumin
- ▢ 1-2 cups ( 250 ml ) Water
- ▢ 1/4 cup ( 4 g ) Chopped Cilantro or Parsley , chopped
Instructions
Cook the Dal
- Place the chana dal and water into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 7 minutes, and allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Release all remaining pressure quickly.
- Open the lid and mash the dal with the back of a spoon to get a creamy texture.
- While the dal is cooking, you can get the “Fry” part of this recipe together.
For the “Fry” part
- Heat a saucepan and melt the ghee or coconut oil. When it shimmers, put in cumin seeds, red chiles and garlic and cook for 1 minute until the ghee picks up the flavors. That red chili looks vicious but it really doesn’t add that much heat–unless you chew it. Then you’re on your own.
- Add the onion slices and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are crisp and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Flatten the onions in the saucepan and don’t stir too often, since you want the edges to burn a little. (You say burn, I say caramelize). Watch video to see how long to cook the onions.
- Add in the tomato and let it get heated through as you gently mash it with the back of your spoon. Sprinkle the turmeric, salt, and powdered cumin, mixing well.
- Turn the Instant Pot to sauté. Pour in the spiced onions and tomatoes and mix well. Add a little water to get a thick, soupy but pourable consistency. Leave on sauté for 5-10 minutes until the flavors meld.
- Add chopped cilantro and serve with rice.
Watch The Video
- You can use any kind of split dal for this recipe.
- You can also make PIP rice with this dish at the same time.
- If you don’t have the dried red chili peppers, you can omit. You may want to increase cayenne by 1/4 teaspoon–or not.
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Chana Dal Fry | A Delicious Instant Pot Chana Dal Recipe
Ingredients
Cook Together
- 1 cup chana dal, (yellow split peas)
- 2 cups Water
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
For the Fry part
- 4 teaspoons Ghee or use coconut oil for dairy free
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 4 Dried Red Chilis
- 6 cloves Garlic minced
- 2 cup Red Onion. chopped thinly sliced
- 1 cup Tomatoes chopped
- 1 teaspoon Turmeric
- 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
- 1-2 cups Water
- 1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro or Parsley chopped
Instructions
Cook the Dal
- Place the chana dal and water into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker and cook at high pressure for 7 minutes, and allow it to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes. Release all remaining pressure quickly.
- Open the lid and mash the dal with the back of a spoon to get a creamy texture.
- While the dal is cooking, you can get the “Fry” part of this recipe together.
For the “Fry” part
Heat a saucepan and melt the ghee or coconut oil. When it shimmers, put in cumin seeds, red chiles and garlic and cook for 1 minute until the ghee picks up the flavors. That red chili looks vicious but it really doesn’t add that much heat–unless you chew it. Then you’re on your own.
Add the onion slices and cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are crisp and lightly browned, about 8-10 minutes. Flatten the onions in the saucepan and don’t stir too often, since you want the edges to burn a little. (You say burn, I say caramelize). Watch video to see how long to cook the onions.
Add in the tomato and let it get heated through as you gently mash it with the back of your spoon. Sprinkle the turmeric, salt, and powdered cumin, mixing well.
Turn the Instant Pot to sauté. Pour in the spiced onions and tomatoes and mix well. Add a little water to get a thick, soupy but pourable consistency. Leave on sauté for 5-10 minutes until the flavors meld.
Add chopped cilantro and serve with rice.
You can use any kind of split dal for this recipe.
You can also make PIP rice with this dish at the same time.
If you don’t have the dried red chili peppers, you can omit. You may want to increase cayenne by 1/4 teaspoon–or not.
Chana Dal Fry | A Delicious Instant Pot Chana Dal Recipe https://twosleevers.com/pressure-cooker-chana-dal-fry/
I’ve always had a bit of a love-don’t love (never hate) relationship with Shrikhand. I think partly because as a child, I thought it was my grandmother feeding me yogurt and lying to me about it being a dessert. Partly it was because my Dad loved it so much, we had it way too often, when I thought we should be having rasgullas instead.
Shrikhand Greek Yogurt Dessert
But I made shrikhand and made my son try it and when he loved it, I thought, “Yay and it’s healthy!” So maybe it’s okay that this is how we sneak yogurt into our kids.
Besides, we all need ideas for that Greek Yogurt we keep making in our Instant Pots. This is a simple, no-cook dessert but you do need to chill it for 4-6 hours for the best results.
LOOKING FOR MORE DELICIOUS DESSERTS MADE EASILY WITH GREEK YOGURT? CHECK OUT MYMANGO FROZEN YOGURT RECIPE!
?DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? DON’T FORGET TO GIVE IT A STAR RATING BELOW! JUST CLICK ON THE STARS TO RATE.
Shrikhand Greek Yogurt Dessert
Ingredients
- ▢ 1 pinch ( 1 pinch ) Saffron Strands
- ▢ 2 tablespoons ( 2 tablespoons ) hot water
- ▢ 1 cup ( 200 g ) Full-Fat Greek Yogurt
- ▢ 5 tablespoons ( 5 tablespoons ) POWDERED sweetener of choice , ( I used Truvia icing sugar)
- ▢ 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ( 0.25 teaspoon ) Ground Cardamom
Instructions
- Mix the saffron and the hot water and let it sit there for 5-10 minutes to soften and color the water.
- Meanwhile, mix together all the other ingredients and taste and adjust for sweetness. The first thing you taste should be sweet. The tang of the yogurt should be the end taste, not the first taste.
- Pour in the softened saffron and the water and mix again. Mash up that saffron well to extract flavor and color.
- Refrigerate but stir from time to time, to get as much flavor and color as you can from the saffron. You’ll notice that each time you stir, it yields a little more color. Don’t need to be compulsive about this, just whenever you remember, give it a stir. Once your dessert has a lovely light orange-yellow hue, it’s done.
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