Mash ki Daal (Urad Daal) – Instant Pot and Stove Top
Learn how to make Mash ki Daal or Urad Daal, the Pakistani and North Indian style. It’s made by cooking Urad Daal (White Lentils) with spices finished off with a tempering of fried onions. Recipe includes stovetop and Instant Pot / Multi Cooker instructions.
Prep Time5 minutes mins
Cook Time35 minutes mins
Soaking Time4 hours hrs
Total Time4 hours hrs 40 minutes mins
Course: Dinner, Lunch
Cuisine: Indian, North Indian, Pakistani
Diet: Vegan, Vegetarian
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 303kcal
Baghar / Tarka / Tempering
Cooking the Daal - Stove Top Instructions:
Wash and soak the urad daal for 4 – 6 hours, or overnight.
Drain the soaking liquid, and add the urad daal to a saucepan with garlic paste, red chili powder and salt. Add 2 ½ - 3 cups water and bring to a boil.
Once the mixture has come to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook till the water has evaporated and lentils are tender. This process will take around 30 – 40 minutes. If there is still liquid remaining, turn heat to medium – high for a few minutes to evaporate the water.
Cooking the Daal – Multi Cooker / Instant Pot Instructions:
Wash and soak the urad daal for 30 minutes.
Drain the soaking liquid and add the urad daal to the Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot. Add salt, red chili powder, and garlic paste along with 2 cups water. The lentils to water ratio should be 1 part lentils to 2 parts water. Stir all the ingredients.
Pressure cook for 5 minutes, using the settings for your model of Instant Pot or Multi cooker, and then do a 15 minutes natural pressure release (NPR). Do not release steam immediately.
If the lentils still taste raw, add 2 tablespoons of water, and pressure cook for an additional 1 – 2 minutes. If the lentils are overcooked or mushy, reduce the amount of water and cook time by 1 – 2 minutes next time. See note 3 for further tips on getting the right texture of these lentils.
Baghar / Tarka / Tempering:
Place the cooked lentils in a serving bowl.
Heat oil in a small frying pan, and add the sliced onions.
Fry the onions till they are light golden, and then add the dried whole chilies along with the asafetida (if using).
Pour the hot oil with the onions and chili over the lentils, and serve hot with roti / chapati or naan.
- Urad daal or Mash daal: This recipe uses skinned and split urad daal. It’s labelled as urad daal or white lentils at the Pakistani or Indian grocery store and is creamy white in colour. Do NOT use whole urad daal – that is the whole version of this lentil and needs to be prepared differently.
- Asafoetida: Known as hing in Hindi, this is added for it’s garlicky flavour. It is also supposed to aid in digesting lentils. Hing can be found in Indian grocery stores – it has a pungent aroma, which dissipates after it is cooked.
- Getting the right texture: The tricky part of making mash ki daal is getting the right texture – it needs to be tender and cooked through, without being mushy.
- If the mash ki daal is soft and/or mushy, it means that you added too much water, or you have overcooked them. To fix the water issue, cook the lentils on high heat for a few minutes till the water evaporates. To fix the overcooking, reduce the cooking (or pressure cook time) next time you make them.
- If the lentils still taste raw, that means they need to be cooked for a couple more minutes. If cooking on the stovetop, add about ¼ - ½ cup water, and cook for around 15 – 30 minutes till done. If using an Instant Pot, then add 2 tablespoons of water, and pressure cook for another 2 minutes.
Calories: 303kcal | Carbohydrates: 31g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 597mg | Potassium: 160mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 473IU | Vitamin C: 53mg | Calcium: 44mg | Iron: 4mg