This Instant Pot Dhal recipe will be the most basic and simple dhal recipe you've ever tried but It tastes like it was cooking for hours on the fireside. I've been making dhal in my instant pot since I bought my first instant pot in 2014. It is such a time saver and delivers excellent results every time.
If you already have a solid dhal recipe––meaning you season your dhal a particular way––you can still use this recipe for the measurements but season your dhal however you like. For instance my mom likes whole roasted geera (cumin) in her dhal but my husband does not. My mother always adds turmeric and garam masala to her dhal but sometimes I leave it out and increase the curry powder. In my opinion there is no right or wrong when it comes to dhal, so do what makes you happy!
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Traditional Dhal vs Instant Pot Dhal
Traditionally when making dhal, I would cook the yellow split peas in water seasoned with garlic, onion, curry powder and geera. Then once the yellow split peas is tender to the point when it melts into the water, I would chunka (fry up in oil) my chopped garlic and add to the dhal and mix it together. For this recipe I wanted to do everything in the instant pot, so I fried up the garlic in the instant pot first, until it was almost burnt just like I would if I were doing it on the stove top, then I added the onions, followed by the yellow split peas and the curry and spices. I then sealed it up and pressure cooked for half an hour. Once it was done pressure cooking, the dhal was ready, nothing else was needed.
Step by Step Recipe Guide
Chunkay the garlic first for the same flavor payoff and less hassle versus using another pan and sautéing it at the end.
Then add your whole cumin or geera (ground cumin). Either works. I'm using geera in the photo above.
Pressure cook, then use a whisk or dhal gutney to mix together well before serving.
The dhal was so perfect that all I needed to do was whisk it up a little before serving. I've also made dhal using a traditional pressure cooker. You can find that recipe here. And if you don't already have an instant pot and want to get into the instant pot movement, you can get one using my amazon affiliate link, here.
Printable Recipe Card
Instant Pot Dhal
Ingredients
- 1 cup yellow split peas washed
- 4 cups of water
- ¼ cup oil suitable for cooking like avocado coconut, olive or sunflower oil
- 8 cloves of garlic 4 cloves finely chopped and 4 thinly slicked
- I yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon of curry powder
- ¼ teaspoon of ground turmeric or turmeric powder optional
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper optional
- 1 teaspoon of ground geera roasted cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Turn your instant pot to sauté and when hot add the oil
- While your instant pot is warming up, blend the onions and 4 cloves of garlic with about ½ cup of water until puréed. You can also just add the whole onion and garlic to the pot, it will become soft enough while pressure cooking and melt away.
- When the instant pot is hot, add the sliced garlic and cook until it is almost burnt. It will be black or dark brown. This will take about 5 minutes
- Next, add the geera to the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Then add the puréed onions and garlic or the chopped onions and whole garlic if you prefer
- Sauté for about 1 minute then add the remaining water, all of the split peas, curry powder, ground turmeric, cayenne pepper or other pepper (if using) and salt to the instant pot and mix together well
- Once everything is mixed together push the cancel button to get the instant pot out of sauté mode, then seal and pressure cook on high for 20 minutes
- After the timer runs out on the pressure cooking, release the pressure/steam
- Finally, whisk for about a minute or two to allow the split peas to "mash up" creating a smooth dhal
- You can also use an immersion blender for this step
- Serve hot!
Other Instant Pot Recipes:
I spent the entire month of January cooking with my instant pot and shared quite a few instant recipes. If you missed them you can see the full line up here. And don't forget to follow me on Instagram where I share cooking tips and adventures in my stories!
Kevin .w says
I love your posts. look forward to trying this Dahl instant pot recipe today. <3
Althea Brown says
Wow. That was quick. I literally just hit publish. Love it. Please let me know how it comes out! And thank you for trying my recipes.
Mary says
Just wanted to add a tip even though i don't have an insta pot. my mother used to chunkay the dhall at the end. by frying up the chopped garlic with some cumin seeds. When the garlic turned brown and the oil was sizzling. She would add it to the finished dhall.it makes a sizzling soundand you just cover the pot and let it blend into the flavours of the dhall.
Althea Brown says
That's totally how I make traditional dhal but with the instant pot I chose to do that step before I actually added the peas and the water and the flavor was still the same as if i did it at the end. I just didn't want to have to fry up the garlic in another pot to add it to the dhal after it was done cooking but of course you can do it that way too.
UGINE MULAHOO-GRAHAM says
Your instant pot recipes are so great! Keep them coming! Very nice ot have an instant pot friendly version of traditional guyanese recipes!
Althea Brown says
Thank you. More IP recipes coming soon. I love my instant pot
Farrah says
Hi, not sure If i just missed in the instructions, but when do You add the sPlit peAs?
Althea Brown says
Hi. Sorry. It should be at step 5 when you add the remaining water, curry powder and salt. Thanks for catching that. I’ll update.
Nadira says
I used my mother’s recipe, similar to your own and followed your instant pot directions. It turned out really well and quicker. Thank you for taking the time to post these recipes. They’re so many I want to try.
Althea Brown says
Wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Leanda says
Really awesome, some of the best dhal I've had.
Althea Brown says
❤️❤️❤️
HowIJourney says
This recipe made me pull out and dust off my instant pot! I always thought it was too much work to make dhal but this fool proof recipe really makes it one pot easy. Pair with some Okra (another great recipe from this site) and you have a healthy Caribbean dinner everyone will love!
Shamica Haniff says
I’m never making dhal any other way but this one. It was so easy, fast, and delicious! Love it!
Backyardevents says
this is a BOSS recipe! Tried it today for the first time and i'm never going back to the original dhal recipes hehe unless i need to make some for a large event! Thank you for sharing these with your community!
Seema says
I have to say I was very skeptical at first to try this, only because I tried this before on my own and it didn’t turn out as well. I followed your measurements and time exactly and whaddya know?! PERFECTION!!! I absolutely love all your recipes and gradually daring myself to try them one by one! You have a beautiful family and of course Axel is da best!
Althea Brown says
Thank you so much for trying my recipe and sharing. Axel loves dhal too!
Jaelen says
Do you add any wiri pepper to the dhal as depicted in the photo? If so at what stage?
Althea Brown says
I add the pepper at the end and let it steam.
Nick says
This dhal came out PERFECT. Thank you!