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    Home » Beans and Lentils

    Garlic Dill Lentils - Instant Pot

    Published: Dec 4, 2017 · Modified: Mar 12, 2023 by Archana · This post may contain affiliate links · As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases · 28 Comments

    342 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    Herbaceous dill and rich, creamy moong daal meld together in this hearty Garlic Dill Lentils dish. Cooking the dill with lentils mellows the distinctive grassy flavor of the herb. This is a common dish in India after pregnancy, but baby or no baby, this recipe is delicious served with warm paratha or steamed rice.

    Dill Lentils with rice on the side
    Jump to:
    • What is Dill?
    • What is a daal? 
    • Why add gram flour?
    • Step by step recipe
    • Serving
    • Recipe

    I grew up not enjoying certain vegetables and Dill was high up on that list. I grew up in a family where we were expected to eat whatever was served for our main meals uncomplainingly. This probably is the reason that I now truly appreciate the unique flavors and textures of so many different vegetables and fruits.

    After I had left home and gotten married my mom reintroduced me to Dill again and this time I LOVED it. I appreciated the flavors so much more that it then became a repeat dish in my kitchen. My boys grew up eating this and never once complained the way I would as a child,  and that makes really happy and proud.  Doesn't life get much easier when the whole family enjoys the same meal?

    Dill Lentils served with rice and rotis

    What is Dill?

    An aromatic herb from the fennel family, this leafy vegetable is widely grown in Europe and Asia. More commonly the leaves and seeds are used as a herb or spice for flavoring food. In India, these leaves are often used in making curries and lentils. Dill leaves have a lot of nutritional benefits, they are a good source of vitamin A, calcium, minerals and are packed with dietary fiber.

    What is a daal? 

    The word daal has 2 meanings:

    1. Lentils or split beans. There are many different kinds of daals such as moong daal, masoor daal chana daal, etc that is using in Indian cooking.
    2. A generic name for cooked lentil dishes such as spinach daal, dill daal, etc.

    Check out this interesting article on the dozens of varieties of lentils and beans used in Indian cooking.

    This garlic dill lentils recipe is a variation of the authentic Maharashtrian dill curry. We love the flavors with lots of garlic and the creaminess of these well-cooked, blended lentils along with the chickpea flour. You can use yellow moong daal or orange masoor daal and the recipe uses only a few spices - mustard seeds (can substitute with cumin seeds), asafetida (optional), turmeric, and curry leaves.

    ingredients to make dal
    Ingredients for Dill Lentils

    Why add gram flour?

    Gram flour works great as a thicker in this dish. It adds creaminess and earthy flavors to the dish.

    Step by step recipe

    • Start with giving a good rinse to the dill leaves and dry them with paper towels. Cut and discard the bottom one-third of the bunch that has thick stems and roots. Then pluck out the leaves that are attached to the skinny stems, discarding any remaining thick steams.
    preparing dill
    • Set the Instant Pot to sauté mode and make the tadka. "Tadka" is a hindi word for tempering where spices are cooked in hot oil or ghee and poured over the finished dish. This adds flavor as well as earthy aromas to the final dish. Add mustard seeds to the hot oil and allow them to pop. Then add asafetida, turmeric, chiles, garlic, curry leaves. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until the garlic turns golden brown and aromatic.
    photos showing how to make tempering
    • Carefully take out the tempering and reserve. Add lentils, chopped dill, salt, and water to the Instant Pot. Mix well, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Close the Instant Pot and pressure cook for 4 minutes. Allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release. Quick-release remaining pressure.
    added dill and lentils to Instant Pot
    • Mash the lentils with a potato masher, immersion blender, or the back of a spoon. Stir in gram flour mixed in water and half of the reserved tempering. Bring the lentils to a gentle boil.
    cooked lentils in Instant Pot
    • Note - That the lentils will continue to thicken as they cool down. Take out the lentils in a serving bowl and garnish with the remaining tempering.

    Serving

    Enjoy hot with rice and parathas or roti. Pair the meal with a delicious cucumber salad or cabbage salad for a satisfying vegetarian Indian meal.

    In addition to this Garlic Dill Lentils are a few other Instant Pot lentil recipes you will enjoy:

    • Dill Dhokli
    • Spinach Daal
    • Daal Makhani
    • Daal Dhokli
    • Mixed Lentils Khichdi
    • Sprouted Lentils Khichdi

    ★ Have you tried this recipe? We love your feedback, Please click on the stars in the recipe card below to rate

    Recipe

    Tried this recipe? We love your feedback.Please click on the stars in the recipe card below
    garlic dill lentils
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    4.57 from 23 votes

    Garlic Dill Lentils

    A delicious lentil dish cooked with fresh dill, garlic and green chillies.
    Prep Time5 mins
    Cook Time15 mins
    Total Time20 mins
    Course: Main Course, Side Dish, Soup
    Cuisine: Indian
    Servings: 3
    Calories: 211kcal
    Author: Archana Mundhe

    Ingredients

    • 1 tablespoon ghee or oil
    • ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
    • ⅛ teaspoon hing {asafetida} optional
    • ½ teaspoon turmeric
    • 2 green chillies sliced into half, 1 jalapeño sliced
    • 10 curry leaves
    • 10 garlic cloves minced
    • ½ cup split red lentils/masoor daal or mung daal rinsed and drained
    • 2 cups chopped dill leaves
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 3 cups water
    • 2 tablespoons gram flour (besan) mixed in ¼ cup of water

    Instructions

    • Turn Instant Pot to Saute(more) mode. Once the hot sign displays add ghee or oil. Add mustard seeds and allow them to splutter. Add hing, turmeric, green chilies, garlic and curry leaves. Mix well and cook for a minute. Take out most of this tempering in a bowl and reserve.
    • Add lentils and chopped dill to the Instant Pot. Mix well. Add salt and water. Mix again deglazing the pot to make sure the lentils are not sticking to the pot.
    • Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure cook(hi) for 4 minutes. Allow 5 minutes of natural pressure release and then carefully quick release the remaining pressure.
    • Open Instant Pot and mix with an immersion blender or mash the lentils with the back of a spatula. 
    • Set Instant Pot to saute mode. Stir in gram flour mixed in water and half of the reserved tempering. Mix well and bring to a gentle boil.
    • Take out the lentils in a serving bowl. Serve hot topped with remaining tempering and steamed rice or parathas. 

    Video

    Nutrition

    Calories: 211kcal | Carbohydrates: 29g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 12mg | Sodium: 901mg | Potassium: 600mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 2545IU | Vitamin C: 101.3mg | Calcium: 114mg | Iron: 4.9mg
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    Author: Archana

    Hey there! I am a techie turned recipe developer, cooking instructor, and food blogger. I love food and enjoy developing easy and healthy recipes for busy lifestyles. I live in New Jersey with my husband and two sons.
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    Reader Interactions

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    1. annika says

      December 04, 2017 at 8:58 pm

      This looks to good and with dill I'm sure it tastes amazing! You always have the best recipes!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        December 05, 2017 at 10:47 am

        Thank you Annika! Yes, this is one of those simple comforting recipes that we have on repeat in our home.

        Reply
    2. Monali says

      December 31, 2017 at 4:13 am

      Hi there! When does the garlic get added?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        December 31, 2017 at 11:09 am

        Hi Monali, Good catch, Thank you! I missed it in my instructions. Garlic is part of the initial tempering and added with green chilies and curry leaves. Fixed the instructions.

        Reply
    3. Cassandra|Delectatus says

      January 11, 2018 at 4:43 pm

      I can't wait to try this!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        January 12, 2018 at 8:42 am

        Let me know

        Reply
    4. Jincy says

      February 03, 2018 at 3:00 pm

      Archana, I made this last week. It was my first time using dill too. Came out well, and will now be added to my rotation for daals!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        February 04, 2018 at 10:40 am

        Awesome! Dill is super healthy and I am glad you are adding it to your rotation.

        Reply
    5. SC says

      February 08, 2018 at 4:06 am

      Archana, I made this last week and it turned out awesome. Very flavorful, filling and simple.

      Reply
      • Archana says

        February 09, 2018 at 6:35 pm

        Thank you for letting me know!

        Reply
    6. Anu says

      February 11, 2018 at 11:31 pm

      Hi archana, this is a great recipe I am going to try it tomorrow. You said we can use moong dal , is that the yellow one ? Thanks

      Reply
      • Archana says

        February 12, 2018 at 11:54 am

        Yes!

        Reply
    7. Anjuli says

      March 22, 2018 at 11:24 pm

      Would you recommend using dried dill spice instead of the fresh? If yes, how much can I put in? Thanks.

      Reply
      • Archana says

        March 23, 2018 at 8:50 am

        Hi Anjuli, This recipe is best with fresh dill.

        Reply
      • Lance says

        July 05, 2019 at 2:16 pm

        Anjuli, yes you can substitute dried for fresh using the standard 1/3 rule. Obviously this is a heavy dill recipe, 2 cups is quite a bit. Applying the rule you would want to use 2/3 cups of dried dill. Now like Archana says, there is no substitute for fresh dill, and I agree; however, if you don't have fresh you can still get close.

        Reply
        • Lance says

          July 05, 2019 at 2:38 pm

          Plus, I forgot to mention, dried dill will extract moisture from final product to re-hydrate; where as, fresh dill will add a little moisture. I would recommend adding a little more liquid, not much, if using dried dill.

          Reply
    8. Chhavi says

      August 14, 2018 at 8:05 pm

      Very interesting flavors and very healthy and simple. Thanks !5 stars

      Reply
      • Archana says

        August 15, 2018 at 7:45 am

        Thank you Chhavi.

        Reply
    9. Maggie says

      June 03, 2019 at 8:39 pm

      Can I use curry powder and maybe some lemongrass instead of the curry leaves? Thank you for this recipe!

      Reply
      • Archana says

        June 03, 2019 at 9:26 pm

        You can simply skip curry leaves! Lemon grass and curry powder will add very different flavors

        Reply
    10. Nan March says

      July 27, 2019 at 1:11 pm

      Difficult to find fresh curry leaves outside of metropolitan areas.
      Will skipping them change the dish much?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        July 27, 2019 at 7:48 pm

        Not much! You can skip curry leaves

        Reply
    11. Sanjay says

      January 25, 2020 at 8:51 am

      I have tried this recipe and it was quite delicious. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe which is liked by my wife also.

      Reply
    12. Ashley says

      April 07, 2020 at 1:35 pm

      Can I sub the flour for regular flour ? And am I able to use black lentils ?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        April 09, 2020 at 10:39 am

        Besan flour has a more earthy taste.You can leave out gram flour. And yes you can add black lentils if you like

        Reply
    13. Carotene says

      April 07, 2020 at 4:31 pm

      Ultimate comfort food!! I used mint zest instead of the curry leaves (because google suggest so), added a dash of fish sauce. Great recipe!5 stars

      Reply
    14. Rc says

      February 26, 2022 at 3:07 pm

      doubled the recipe (6 servings) but water is still show as 3 cups? is that right?

      Reply
      • Archana says

        February 27, 2022 at 12:01 pm

        Hi, Water should also have been doubled, I will make sure to add it to the ingredient list which will help in the future. Although, with this recipe, just for pressure cooking double the amount of lentils, 3 cups of water is still plenty. You will just have to add more water, in the end, to bring the dal to desired consistency.

        Reply

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    Hi, I'm Archana: a former software engineer, now a full-time blogger. I am a mother of two boys who share my love for food and cooking. Words I love to hear are, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” The same words I say to my mom every time we speak. I live in the greater New York City Area with my husband and sons.

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