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Maash ki Daal, or sukhi (dry) split urad dal, may not be mainstream, but it’s beloved by all who’ve tried it. This recipe makes it in the traditional Pakistani and Punjabi way – dry, as in firm, but cooked through – and adorned with delicate slivers of ginger and warming green chili peppers.
Maash Ki Daal
It has taken me packets upon packets of urad dal (I’ve never seen it labeled ‘maash’, as we grew up calling it) to get the perfect al dente texture. Nonetheless, I kept trying. Because if you’ve had this dal, you know it can’t escape you. You’ll see it staring at you in the obnoxiously versatile ‘dal section’ of the Indo-Pak grocery store, and you’ll want to relive a bite of it – enveloped in roti, chewy yet textured.
I don’t mind any version of this tasty dal, but my mother-in-law makes the best I’ve had. Since she’s been visiting, I’ve tried to recreate it multiple times, asking her detailed, probably trivial questions along the way – 1 ¼ tsp coriander powder or 1 ½?
If you’ve tried making this dal, you know getting the texture right is the biggest hurdle. Perfecting the soak time, cooking time, and the dal to water ratio is somewhat of an art. I’ve done my best to break it all down for you for both stovetop and instant pot.
Maash ki Dal tips:
- Fresh dal cooks faster than older dal. Dal is best used within a year of being picked and dried. If your dal has been in your pantry for longer than 9-10 months, you may need to increase the cooking time.
- Contrary to my cooking instinct, my mom-in-law doesn’t brown the onion first, but adds the garlic and tomato alongside the onion. I’ve chopped it all in food processor to save time, but you can manually do so if you prefer.
- The green chili peppers are added at the end, which means they must be comfortably hot. If your green chili peppers are too hot to bite into, remove the seeds, chop it into smaller pieces, and only use half.
If you try this recipe, please let me know in the comments below. If you’re on Instagram, I’d love for you to tag me so I can see your creations. I love hearing from you!
Maash Ki Daal – Urad Dal (Instant Pot or Stovetop)
Equipment
- Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
- Food Processor (Optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup urad dal* split and husked black gram lentils
- 1 medium onion cut into quarters
- 1 small to medium tomato cut into quarters
- 5-6 garlic cloves peeled
- 1/3 cup neutral oil such as grapeseed oil
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 ½ tsp coriander powder
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 – 1½ tsp kashmiri red chili powder use less if using cayenne or hot red chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- 1 ¼ tsp salt or to taste
After Cooking
- 1-2 green chili peppers finely chopped
- 1 tbsp julienned ginger
- 1-2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice optional
Instructions
Instant Pot
- Wash and soak dal in warm water for 30 minutes. Then strain.
- Combine the onion, tomato, and garlic in a food processor and pulse to chop until a coarse mixture forms.
- Heat Instant Pot to high Sauté mode. Once hot, add oil and the chopped onion mixture. Sauté for 10-12 minutes, until the mixture no longer has moisture and the oil starts to leave the sides.
- Add the whole cloves, spices, and salt and stir for another minute.
- Cancel Sauté. Add the lentils and 1 cup of water and mix well. Submerse the lentils within the water as much as possible. Cover with the lid and set to the top sealing. Pressure Cook on High for 4 minutes.
- Allow the pressure to naturally release for 10 minutes. Then manually release any remaining pressure and press sauté on high again. Taste and adjust salt.
- Add the green chili pepper and ginger and sauté for another 1-2 minutes until all the water has completely evaporated and the oil starts to leave the sides. Turn off the Instant Pot. Stir in cilantro and lemon or lime juice, if using. This dal is best served with roti, paratha, naan, or other bread. I love it with some achaar on the side.
Stovetop
- Wash and soak dal in warm water for 30 minutes. Then strain.
- Combine the onion, tomato, and garlic in a food processor and pulse to chop until a coarse mixture forms.
- Heat a medium, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the onion mixture and sauté for 10-12 minutes, until the mixture no longer has moisture and the oil starts to leave the sides. Add a splash of water and cook for another minute, until the tomatoes have broken down well.
- Add the whole cloves, spices, and salt and stir. Add the strained lentils and 1 3/4 cups water and raise the heat to bring to a boil.
- Once the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a medium-low. Cover, and cook for 22-23 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked al dente and the water has greatly decreased. Uncover, and taste and adjust salt.
- Raise the heat to high, add the green chili pepper and ginger and sauté for another 1-2 minutes until all the water has completely evaporated and the oil starts to leave the sides. Turn off the heat and stir in cilantro and lemon or lime juice, if using. This dal is best served with roti, paratha, naan, or other bread. I love it with some achaar on the side.
Hello,
Can I try this same recipe in instant pot with moong ki daal? You know the small, yellow one.
Or with toor or masoor daal?
Thanks
Hi Yusra. Sure, though I haven’t tried subbing other dals for this recipe. Both Moong & Masoor cook faster than Maash ki dal so you should be good. I have a IP masoor dal recipe on the blog as well!
My childhood memory of this daal is eating it with matar paneer. That is the combination we always had. I love it either this way or even with just fried onion. nothing can beat piping hot daal with boondi raita and matar paneer. Thank you for bringing back those memories. I was planning to make it today after a long time and was wondering how much water to add. I usually do one:one. GladI tried to reconfirm else wouldnt have read your recipe here xx
I LOVE matar paneer and this combo sounds amazing. Thanks, Anjali!
Would this recipe work the same with whole urad? I don’t have split urad.
No, Mona. Whole urad would require longer cooking and more water. I can’t say exactly how much as I haven’t tried it yet.
I’m back!!!! I tried this today Izzah and even I ate it! That means it turned out great! Haha! I think I’ll be stalking your blog now. Only thing I did different was add piaz ka tarka like we do on Haleem. My MiL does that and it really does make the daal taste even better.
Seriously your recipes are a God send!
Thank you Izzah 😘
Xoxo
Nadya
Love that you’re back and thanks for such a nice compliment. Thank you! I’ve actually tried that and loved it but stuck to my mom in law’s traditional way of making it for this recipe.
Do you ever add meat to urad dal? If so, can you adjust the recipe for Instant Pot? Would love to know!
I haven’t tried it, no. I’d recommend cooking the meat first depending on how well cooked you’d like your dal.