Weeknight · Instant Pot · about 45 minutes

Chana Dal

Name: Chana Dal
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 14 g coconut oil; 1 ½ tsp granulated garlic; ¼ tsp hing (asafoetida); 1 ¼ tsp ground cumin; ¾ tsp ground mustard seed; 1035 ml water; 3 tbsp dried chopped onion; 24 g Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base; 400 g chana dal; 1 can whole peeled tomatoes; ¾ tsp ground turmeric; ½ tsp cayenne; 1 tsp garam masala; Cooked basmati rice, cilantro, and lime, to serve

Split chana dal pressure-cooked with bloomed spices and tomato into a creamy, protein-packed bowl. Wake up the spices in the pot, dump everything else, and let pressure do the work — then smash to the texture you like and spoon over basmati.

~45 min total 15 min pressure Instant Pot method

Spoon cost

Time ●●○○○ Anytime

Instant PotVeganGluten-Free

Servingsamounts scale to match

Units

Ingredients

Bloom the spices first, then pressure-cook and smash to taste. Frying the cumin, mustard, and garlic in the oil for a minute or two wakes them up before anything else goes in. After a natural release, mash some of the dal against the side of the pot — more for creamy, less for chunky.

Easier, if you like

Skip the tadka — the ground-spice bloom in step 1 is the fast route and still plenty fragrant.
Fresh onion (½ small, diced) can replace the dried; sauté it with the spices.

Method

Cook's notes

No Instant Pot? The stovetop wants a head start: soak the chana dal 1 hour (or overnight), then simmer covered, 45–60 minutes, until a spoon smashes a dal against the pot wall with no resistance. Everything else — blooming, smashing, finishing — is the same.

Tadka variation: for a traditional tempering, fry 1 tsp whole cumin seeds and ½ tsp whole mustard seeds in 1 tbsp coconut oil until they crackle, then add 4–5 minced garlic cloves and a pinch of hing (1/16 tsp) and cook just until the garlic turns golden (watch it — it burns in a blink). Stir it in at the end for more bite, or use it in place of step 1.

Smash to taste: chana dal holds its shape more than red lentils — mash more for a creamy dal, less for texture.

Hing (asafoetida) is optional but adds a savory onion-garlic depth that's worth seeking out.

A spoonful of vegan yogurt on top is lovely, and cilantro and lime keep it bright.

Vegan and gluten-free as written

Vegan / gluten-free: it already is — just use a gluten-free bouillon (most are).

Milder: drop or halve the cayenne.