Instant Pot Dal Makhani is a delicious side for Indian dinner. Dal is slow cooked in tomato puree and butter to get restaurant style perfection. Dal Makhani is a rich, creamy bowl of lentil goodness.

What is Dal Makhani? Rich, creamy lentils dish traditionally cooked on a slow simmer for hours in tomato puree and butter. You will surely find Dal Makhani on the menu card of every Indian restaurant.

Growing up Ma used to make this dal on special occasions – birthdays, anniversary, family gatherings. We would eagerly wait for her to cook Dal Makhani. The aroma of dal simmering slowly in butter, would slowly fill the kitchen and linger on for hours. This was a great dinner treat, we would relish and eat with garlic naan and side of paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese).

When I initially started cooking, I knew I had to perfect this dal recipe. My initial trials were using my mother’s recipe. From there on I have tried different Chef recipes. Almost all chef recipes, require you to simmer the dal for few hours and go easy on adding ghee and butter. This is a rich dish, so adding fattening agents is always a good excuse.

Now about this Dal recipe- I have cooked the Dal Makhani using Instant Pot. And have made changes in my original recipe, to make this dal healthy and easy to cook. You will notice that in this recipe, I use nominal butter.

Trust me Instant Pot Dal Makhani turns out as flavorful, as Dal Makhani served in any Indian restaurant. I have now started cooking more often with the electric pressure cooker, as it is one pot cooking solution with multiple features. I am always in for simple, healthy and fast cooking solutions.

When you cook Dal Makhani in the traditional way, that is over the stove top. You will have to simmer, the dal on low heat for few hours. Slow cooking for hours makes the dal rich in flavor with cream like consistency. With that said, slow cooking process on the stove top would require you to stir the dal, from time to time to ensure that the dal does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Instant Pot Dal Makhani recipe is simple and easy. When you cook the dal in this pot, it is easy one pot preparation. The dal is pressure cooked in the pot, then later on the dal simmers unsupervised for hours on the slow cooker mode in the same pot. You don’t have to stir or supervise the dal during the entire cooking process.

The dal slowly cooks into a creamy bowl of perfection! This dal is great to eat event the next day, so you can make this one day in advance or overnight before you plan to serve it. Serve the dal hot, with a side of rice or Indian flat bread like roti/naan and salad.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. If you give this recipe a try, do let me know. Leave a comment, Pin it, or take a picture and tag it #cookingyoulove on Instagram. I would love to know how it turned up for you.

