Moong Dal Tadka or Split Yellow Lentil Soup made in Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker. This is another popular dal similar to Toor Dal Fry that is used for everyday cooking in India. It is a quick, easy and low-calorie nutritious lentil soup.
Moong dal used to be my mom’s go to dal for a quick meal. It can be prepared very quickly in just 15 minutes. It is also a great source of proteins for vegetarians. For all the fitness pals, this lentil is very low in calories. It is also extremely light and healthy. That is the reason this is a preferred lentil when someone is sick and recovering, as it is very easy to digest. This dal is also considered a great starter food for babies. Moong dal is also used to make Khichdi, which is a great comfort food for Indians.
How to cook Moong Dal in Instant Pot?
One thing important to note is that these split yellow lentils cook very quickly, so you want to be careful that it does not get too mushy. I prefer the grainy consistency where you can really taste the dal.
There are 2 ways to make any lentils. Traditionally lentils were first boiled separately in water and the tadka (tempering) prepared separately and mixed into the boiled lentils. The second way is to make the tadka and then add the lentils and pressure cook along with the tadka.
I prefer the latter as it is a simpler one-pot recipe. Hence I will show the method latter method in this recipe. The ingredients needed for this recipe are the very basic onions, tomatoes and garlic. Some people even skip the onions and tomatoes in this lentils, and temper just with cumin and garlic.
Start with heating ghee/oil in the instant pot. Then add cumin seeds, asafoetida, onions and garlic. Saute for 2-3 minutes until the onions are lightly cooked. Then add chopped tomatoes and spices. Add rinsed lentils and water. No need to soak the lentils for this recipe. Pressure Cook for 4 minutes and then release the pressure 5 minutes after the beep. Garnish with cilantro and additional garam masala if you like a spice kick.
You can enjoy this as a soup or with basmati rice or roti. In the picture below, I added a little ghee tempered with cumin and red chili powder, which is completely optional. It just helps to make the dal look gorgeous, and ghee always enhances the taste.
Instant Pot Moong Daal Fry / Split Yellow Lentils Soup
Ingredients
- 1 cup Split Yellow Lentils (Moong Dal) rinsed
- 3 cups Water
- 1 tbsp Ghee or Oil
- 1 tsp Cumin seeds (Jeera)
- 1/8 tsp Asafoetida (Hing)
- 1/2 Onion medium, diced
- 1/2 Tomato medium, diced
- 4 cloves Garlic diced
- 1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
- 1/2 tsp Cayenne or Red Chili powder
- 1 tsp Salt
- Cilantro to garnish
Instructions
- Start the instant pot in sauté mode and heat oil in it. Add cumin seeds and asafoetida.
- Once the cumin seeds start to change color, add the onions, garlic and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, turmeric, red chili powder and salt. Stir and saute for 2 minutes.
- Add the washed dal and water. Stir it all up. Pressure Cancel and close the lid with vent in sealing position.
- Change the instant pot setting to manual or pressure cook mode at high pressure for for 4 mins. After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes, then release the pressure manually (5 minute NPR).
- Garnish with cilantro and stir. Optionally, sprinkle the juice of half a lemon and some garam masala. Moong Dal is ready to be served.
Note: Nutrition values are my best estimates. If you rely on them for your diet, use your preferred nutrition calculator.
My daughter who doesn’t like Indian food loved this! And my other daughter ate four bowls of it. No lie! Tastes like my mom used to make. By far the easiest thing I’ve made in the Instant Pot, and it’s nutritious, vegetarian, healthy, and everybody loves it! This is my first recipe of yours I’ve tried, and I can’t wait to try more!!
Hey Deepa – So happy to hear you and your daughters enjoyed the dal. This is my favorite dal as I grew up eating it most frequently. Thank you so much for sharing back your review. I would love to hear if you try any other recipes!
Hi. I’m really looking forward to trying this but I have the split moong beans with the green skin still on each half. I’m guessing it will take longer but are you able to give a suggested time to try?
Many thanks.
Hey Joanne – Here is a recipe for whole green moong. For split moong, the only change will be 6 mins at high pressure – https://pipingpotcurry.com/green-moong-dal-pressure-cooker/. Hope you enjoy it!
How to make this on stove top please?
I am using Masoor Daal. I am not sure if that makes a difference.
Hey Sonia – I assume you are making whole brown lentils (masoor dal). For that I would say rinse and do 2-3. whistles on medium-high flame on a stovetop pressure cooker. If it is orange split lentils, then just 1 whistle will work. Let the pressure release naturally. Hope that helps!
Hi! This is the first recipe i tried on your blog and it turned out great! Upon reading comments i cooked for 6 mins… And did the tarka in the end. Now trying the spinach paneer recipe on your blog. I bought the instant pot after reading your blog and so far i love it. Thank you!
Hey Tania – So glad that you found my blog and have enjoyed the instant pot till now. Thank you for trying the recipes and sharing back your feedback!
How much water is needed?
Hey Tina – I add 3 cups water for 1 cup of lentils. Hope you enjoy it!
This came out great – thank you for the recipe!
I also tried a variation – mango dal – put in seasoning first on saute, added spices, cut mango (sweet sour), cut zucchini, dal, and cooked them together. Added a bit of chopped spinach and coriander after cooking.
Hey Priya – Glad it worked. I have spinach dal and mango dal recipe on the blog, which are very similar to what you did. Thanks for sharing your review 🙂
Thanks for this recipe! The tadka is wonderful. I had to cook the lentils for 6 minutes at high pressure-at 3 minutes the lentils were still hard. Now it’s the right texture. 2 tsp salt is way too much for me so I’ll try with less next time.
Hey Adrienna – Thanks for sharing the changes you had to make for the recipe.
Hi! If I dont have fresh tomatoes, can I sub diced canned tomatoes or tomato sauce or puree? How much would I use? Thanks 🙂
Hey Priti – You can use diced canned tomatoes. Just add 1/4 cup of them, as very little is needed in this recipe. Hope you enjoy it!
what if i mix yellow and orange daal. what measurements would I follow. same time? and do I soak it?
Hey Andrea – You can use both yellow and orange split lentils. Follow the same recipe, soaking is not needed. Hope you enjoy it!
Tried this recipe and 3 mins manual + manual quick release hadn’t cooked my dal at all ☹️. Is it different timings for pot in pot?
Hey Smita – pot in pot cooking usually takes longer than in the main pot. I usually make lentils in the main pot and rice in a smaller pot. For this, I would suggest 6 mins of manual high pressure for pip. Hope that helps!
Would you do quick release with this method? Thank you!
Hey Kristin – I would still suggest a 5-10 mins NPR. The issue with pip for lentils is that you cannot do the tempering along with it. When I make the lentils in the main stainless steel pot, I first add the tempering (oil, cumin seeds, onions, garlic, etc), then the lentils and water and cook together. When doing pip for lentils, most people are cooking the lentils with just water and salt. Then preparing tempering separately on stovetop which is added to the cooked lentils (this is the traditional way to make lentil soups). Feel free to choose what you prefer. I always lean towards the one-pot version 🙂