Chana Dal Pulao / Chickpeas Pilaf made in Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. This is a one-pot vegetarian dish made with split yellow chickpeas, rice along with simple spices and ghee. Enjoy with yogurt or raita.
This is a guest post from Khushboo Agarwal Murarka. This is an attempt to feature delicious home-cooked meals in everyday life.
It is Monday morning, and I am thinking about a lunch that I can pack quickly for my hubby and son. What could be better than a one-pot dish. Quick, simple and of course nutritious. I make this pilaf in my favorite instant pot, set it on the rice mode and off I go to get ready. Come back and chana dal pulao is ready. Oh...I love the perfectly cooked grains of rice. So here is the simple recipe for Chana Dal Pulao. Husband liked it and hope you will too!
Enjoy this easy, healthy and delicious Chickpea Pilaf.
If you are looking for other recipes with Split Chickpeas, check out our delicious Chana Dal recipe.
Chickpeas Pilaf / Chana Dal Pulao - Instant Pot Pressure Cooker
Ingredients
- 1 cup Basmati Rice rinsed
- ½ cup Split Chickpeas (Chana dal) rinsed & soaked for 1 hour in hot water
- 1 tablespoon Ghee or Oil
- 2 Bay leaf (Tej Patta)
- ½ teaspoon Black Peppercorns (optional)
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds (Rai)
- 6-8 Curry Leaves (Kadi Patta)
- 1 Green Chili Pepper minced
- ½ cup Onion chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 ¾ cups Water
Spices
- ½ teaspoon Cinnamon (Dalchini) ground
- ½ teaspoon Cloves (Laung) ground
- ½ teaspoon Green Cardamom (Elaichi) ground
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1 teaspoon Salt adjust to taste
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in SAUTE mode and heat it. Add ghee, curry leaves, mustard seeds, green chili, onion and garlic. Sauté them for 2 minutes until onions become transparent.
- Add bay leaf, black peppercorns, spices and saute for another minute.
- Drain the water from the soaked chana dal. Add it to the pot and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add rice and water. Press Cancel and close the instant pot lid with vent in sealing position.
- Set the instant pot to RICE mode for 12 mins (low pressure).
- When the instant pot beeps, quick release the pressure manually. Fluff the rice.
- Chana Dal Pulao is ready to be served.
Notes
- Vegan Variation: Use your favorite plant based oil to make this pulao.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
Nutrition
Check out other Instant Pot Rice recipes you might enjoy:
About Khushboo:
Hi, I am Khushboo. Working mom of 2 munchkins (3.5 years and .5 years old). I started cooking only after marriage as I landed up in this big country, USA, where we have to be independent for most of the things we do. I thank my husband to get me started on cooking. It’s been close to 8 years now and I simply enjoy cooking something new and different everyday, and above all love to cook in the Instant Pot.
Maryellen says
loved this recipe. I will definitely make it again. I have questions about two possible variations:
1. I'd like to increase the proportion of dal to rice, for example 1 cup of each. Should I increase water to 2 cups, 2 1/4 or...how much?
2. I would like to add a Tarka/Tadka to the finished dish at the end. I don't think that this is traditional when rice is mixed with the dal, but do you have any advice for trying this anyway?
thanks!
Meeta Arora says
Hi Maryellen - Happy to hear you enjoyed the pulao.
1. I would suggest to increase the water to 2 1/4 or even a little bit more (still less than 2 1/2 cup) if you use 1 cup rice with 1 cup dal.
2. We do add tadka on khichdi often, which is a mixture of rice and dal. So it is totally fine if you would like to add it.
To add a tadka on top, heat ghee (or oil) in a small pan, add some cumin seeds (about 1/2 teaspoon), and some asafoetida. Optionally you can add some curry leaves if you like. Just let this be on the flame for 30 seconds. If you like, you can add some mild red chili powder after taking it off the flame (I use Kashmiri chili powder). Top it on while serving or on the rice in the instant pot.
RC says
I followed the recipe exactly but the split peas (chana daal) came under cooked quite a bit.
Meeta Arora says
Hi RC - Sorry to hear the Chana Dal did not cook well. Did you soak it for an hour before cooking?
Charlotte says
This dish was so quick and easy to make and it was super tasty!! We also added some spinach before pressure cooking, and it worked really well. We will definitely be making this again soon 🙂
Kim says
Sorry one more question! When you crush the cardamom, do you use the crushed outer shell also? Or just the little seeds. For some reason I didn’t get any notification anywhere that you haD responded to me?
Meeta Arora says
Hi Kim - You can add the other shell when making rice. However we typically pick put the whole spices (or this shell) when eating the rice. You can choose to not add it and just add the seeds.
Kimberley says
Can I put little chunks of chicken in as soon as water goes in? Or will the time of cooking not be enough to cook it through? I’m talking pieces the size of a penny.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Kimberly - Yes, you can add chicken pieces too. The cooking time will work well for chicken pieces. Hope you enjoy the pilaf.
Kim says
Was wonderful! Thank you! I try to remain vegetarian, but sometimes I’m so low on money I have to go to food banks and incorporate what they give. Please make a book specifically for instant pot Indian food!
Meeta Arora says
Thank you so much Kim. I am glad you are enjoying the recipes.
Rebecca says
I wonder if this could be made with brown rice. Thank you.
Meeta Arora says
Hi Rebecca - If you soak the brown rice for 2 hours, then you can pressure cook for about 12 minutes on high pressure in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
Meena Narayanan says
Your recipes look simply delicious and simple & im certainly going to try this Chana dal pilaf ...
Thanks
Meeta Arora says
Hey Meena - Thank you. I would love to hear how it turns out 🙂