Instant Pot Dal Makhani (Madras Lentils)

Instant Pot Dal Makhani with pot-in-pot brown rice is an easy and delicious one-pot meal. This dal is also popularly known as Madras Lentils. This restaurant-style Dal Makhani made in the instant pot is rich, creamy, and flavorful. It goes really well with basmati rice and naan.

Dal Makhani is one of the most popular Punjabi dals. Interestingly, it is very similar to the Madras Lentils you might have tasted at Costco. Most people order this dal when in an Indian restaurant. This was my favorite dal when growing up, and it still is.

Authentic Dal Makhani is usually slow-cooked, which can take hours. However, I have used the Instant Pot to prepare it as a one-pot meal in 50 minutes, most of which is passive time.

Want to find other easy Instant Pot Indian Recipes? Here are 29 Instant Pot Indian Vegetarian Recipes for you to try!

Watch How to Make Instant Pot Dal Makhani

What is Dal Makhani?

Dal makhani is a dish from the Punjab region in the Indian subcontinent. You will also find many people referring to this dal as Black Dal or Kaali Dal.

As the name suggests, this dal is prepared with butter, known as “makhan” in Hindi. So Dal Makhani translates to “buttery lentils.”

Dal Makhani is traditionally made with whole black urad dal and rajma (kidney beans) cooked in aromatics, tomatoes, and spices. This dal is made luscious with the generous addition of butter and cream.

Curious about pulses used in Indian cooking? Check out my detailed guide about Indian Pulses.

How to make Dal Makhani in Instant Pot?

Here, I’m sharing the steps for making one-pot Dal Makhani in the Instant Pot. Usually, it’s hard to make this dal on a weeknight, as it takes a long time to cook on the stovetop. However, with the Instant Pot and this almost hands-off method, you can enjoy this dal on a weeknight.

• Start by soaking the lentils and beans in ample water for 8 hours or overnight. Soaking is mainly required for the kidney beans, but I find it easier to soak them all together.
• When ready to cook, heat the Instant Pot in saute mode. Add butter and let it melt. Add the cumin seeds and let them sizzle.
• Then, add the onions and sauté for a few minutes until they turn golden.
• Add the tomatoes and spices and saute for 3 minutes. 
• Now, drain the soaking water and transfer the lentils or beans to the Instant Pot. Add the water for cooking and give it all a good stir. That is all the active work required for this recipe.

• Set the Instant Pot to pressure cook on high pressure. I usually use the bean/chili mode. The pressure cook mode works the same way, just set the cooking time as mentioned in the recipe card.
• After the pressure cooking is done, open the lid and give a good stir. Dal Makhani is ready. If needed, add hot water to get the desired consistency.
• Stir in the cream if using and garnish the dal with chopped cilantro leaves.

You can also top with more butter to enhance the taste (and calories) 🙂

How to get the reddish color for Dal Makhani?

My mom likes to get the perfect reddish color similar to restaurant-style dal makhani.  Here is the trick I learnt from her to get that perfect reddish color.

Soak 2-3 Kashmiri red chilies for 30 minutes. Then, grind them to a paste with some water and add them when you add the tomatoes. You’ll love the color and the added flavor of the Kashmiri chili. I do this in my Pav Bhaji recipe, too.

Kashmiri chilies are very mild, so they will not make the dal too spicy. Do skip the chili powder in the recipe if you go this route.

Instant Pot Madras Lentils

I could not find much history for the name Madras Lentils. However, the Tasty Bite brand, available at Costco and other major grocery chains, has undoubtedly made this a popular dish. Let’s see the differences between Dal Makhani and Madras lentils.

• The ingredients listed on the Tasty Bite Madras Lentils pack are Water, Tomato, Lentils, Red Beans, Onions, Cream, Butter, Salt, Oil, Chilies, and Cumin.
• My understanding is that they use adzuki beans (also known as chori in Hindi) in place of black gram lentils.
• The spices used are much fewer, only cumin and chili. So it is milder than Dal Makhani.

Other than that, I don’t see any differences. You can follow the same recipe below with adzuki beans and adjust the spices to make the popular Madras Lentils. I have also shared the adzuki bean curry, called red chori dal, if you want to give that a try.

Dal Makhani with Pot-in-Pot Brown Rice

One of the significant advantages of the Instant Pot is the option for Pot-in-Pot Cooking, or PIP. This means being able to cook multiple things at a time by also cooking in a small pot inside the main pot. For pot-in-pot cooking, you need a tall trivet and stainless steel containers that you can use within the main pot.

Another critical thing to consider with pot-in-pot cooking is the cooking time for the dishes you want to cook together. For example, Dal Makhani takes about 30 minutes to cook at high pressure, and brown rice takes around 22-25 minutes at high pressure. Hence, if I add brown rice pot-in-pot with beans, they will cook well.

I wouldn’t cook white rice with Dal Makhani; however, it would work well with dal tadka, which cooks in 6-8 minutes at high pressure.

Learn more about the instant pot pot-in-pot method with this comprehensive guide!

Once you’ve added all the ingredients for Dal Makhani to the instant pot, place the trivet and then the bowl of brown rice with water. This way, they will both cook together. Enjoy the meal!

This restaurant-style Dal Makhani is creamy and full of flavor. It would be a great addition to your next party or potluck.

The best part is that you can prepare it the day before, and it tastes even better the next day. Just before serving, heat it well, and top with some butter and cream. And you are good to go!

Fun Fact: Below is the original picture I clicked for this recipe when I created it in 2017. Since then, I have updated this recipe and added new photos.

Vegan Dal Makhani

Most of the ingredients in this Dal Makhani are already vegan, except for the butter and cream (if you choose to add them). To make this dal vegan, simply replace the butter with your favorite plant-based oil or vegan butter and use coconut milk or cashew cream instead of dairy cream at the end.

Can I use canned kidney beans when making Dal Makhani?

Technically, you can use canned kidney beans; however, since they are pre-cooked, you need to add them at the end and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

I feel there is no advantage to using canned kidney beans in this recipe, as it does not help cut the cooking time. You will still want to cook the dal for the same amount of time to get the perfect creamy texture. So, why not save some money and use dry kidney beans?

What to Serve with Dal Makhani? 

Dal Makhani tastes excellent with a variety of Indian sides. It pairs well with basmati rice or jeera rice. For bread lovers, garlic naan, roti, or paratha make excellent choices. You can find naan at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods in the frozen section. 

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