North Indian comfort food, Dal Makhani is a lightly spiced creamy lentil dish that is cooked to perfection with warm spices such as garam masala and turmeric. Traditionally slow-cooked for hours, this easy, hands-off Instant Pot Dal Makhani recipe delivers authentic flavor and creamy texture in less than an hour! The best part is that you can also cook brown rice at the same time using the pot-in-pot method.
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The recipe was originally posted in Oct 2017 and has been updated with new photos and video
Dal Makhani, a beloved North Indian (Punjabi) classic, is made by slow-cooking whole black urad dal (black gram beans) and rajma (red kidney beans) with butter, onion, tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste, and a fragrant blend of spices. Traditionally, this dish simmers for hours to develop its rich, creamy texture and depth of flavor. However, with an Instant Pot, you can easily recreate this restaurant favorite in just about 50 minutes, making it a mostly hands-free and approachable recipe for home cooks.
This protein-packed, gluten-free, vegetarian meal is perfect for the whole family to enjoy. If you're interested in exploring more plant-based protein dishes, try recipes like Whole Masoor Dal, Green Moong Dal, Rajma Masala, or Dal Bukhara for a variety of wholesome options.
Ingredient Highlights
- Whole Urad Dal & Rajma - Traditionally, the black gram beans and red kidney beans are soaked overnight, reducing the overall pressure cooking time. You can cook them unsoaked by simply increasing the cooking time to 60 minutes and adding an extra cup of water.
- Veggies - Onion, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic paste
- Spices - cumin seeds, turmeric, red chili powder, and garam masala
- Garnish - Heavy cream, cilantro, and dried fenugreek leaves
How to make Daal Makhani in Instant Pot
- Rinse and soak black gram beans (whole urad) and red kidney beans (rajma) in 3 cups of water for 6 hours or overnight.
- Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode and heat oil. Add cumin seeds and onions and mix well.
- Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, salt, tomatoes, and beans (photos 1 - 2).
- Add 2 cups of water and give a quick stir.
- For optional pot-in-pot brown rice, place a tall trivet over the beans. Add rice, 2 cups of water, and salt to a stainless steel container. Place the rice container on the trivet (photos 3 - 4)
- Close the Instant Pot with the pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook for 30 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release. Open the Instant Pot and set it to sauté mode.
- Carefully take out the rice bowl and the trivet. Mash the beans with the back of a spoon for a creamy texture. Stir in cream, garam masala, and garnish with cilantro. (photos 5 - 6)
Serving
Serve the Dal Makhani with brown rice with a side of beet raita or cucumber salad. If you are gluten-free, you can also pair it with Jowar Roti, Bajra Roti, or Chilla. In India, the restaurant-style Dal makhani is often served with Roti or Parathas, and Jeera rice.
Storing
Any leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 5 days making it perfect for meal prep. This is also a great make-ahead recipe as the flavors continue to develop over time. I often cook Dal Makhani the night before especially when I have to serve it for a party or get-together.
You can also freeze Dal makhani - I would recommend leaving out the cream and adding it just before serving.
Difference between Madras Lentils and Dal Makhani
Have you tried Costco's "Tasty Bites Madras Lentils"? They are similar to Dal Makhani, except lighter on spices. And if you are curious, here are the ingredients on the package - water, tomatoes, lentils(adzuki beans or "chori" in Hindi), onions, red kidney beans, cream, butter, oil, salt, ginger, cumin, and chilies.
The difference between Madras Lentils and my Dal Makhani recipe is:
- Whole black gram beans are used to make Dal Makhani, while the Costco Madras Lentils have adzuki beans
- Dal Makhani also has garlic, cumin powder, coriander powder, and garam masala.
How to make Madras Lentils in Instant Pot?
Madras lentils are simply a less spicy version of Dal Makhani. So if you are trying to make Madras Lentils at home, you can follow this same recipe with the following modifications:
- Use Adzuki beans instead of black gram beans
- Skip garlic and garam masala
- Add some butter along with cream at the end
How to Make Dal Makhani on a Stove Top Pressure Cooker?
- Use soaked beans and follow the same steps as the Instant Pot recipe.
- Pressure cook for 45 minutes on medium heat.
- Allow the pressure to release naturally.
★ Tried this recipe? I'd love to hear how it turned out! Leave a comment and let me know, or snap a quick pic and upload it-I love seeing your creations. If you're on Instagram, tag @ministry_of_curry so I can check it out. Your feedback means so much to me and makes all the time I spend perfecting each recipe totally worth it. Thank you!
Recipe
Instant Pot Dal Makhani with Brown Rice
Recipe Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup black gram beans (adzuki beans or whole brown lentils) **
- ⅓ cup red kidney beans **
- 1 tablespoon oil (ghee or butter)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- ¼ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons Kashmiri red chili powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 cups tomatoes diced
- 2 cups water
- ½ cup light cream **
- 1 teaspoon garam masala
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 tablespoons kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) optional
Optional Pot in Pot rice
- 1 cup brown rice rinsed and drained
- 2 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Rinse and soak black gram beans and red kidney beans in 3 cups of water. Overnight or 6-8 hours. Drain the water after soaking and keep the beans aside.
- Set Instant Pot to sauté mode and heat oil. Add cumin seeds to the oil and allow them to sizzle. Add onions and mix well.
- Add ginger, garlic, turmeric, red chili powder, salt, tomatoes and beans. Add water and mix well.
- To make pot-in-pot brown rice (optional step)- Add rice, water, and salt to a stainless steel container. Put a tall trivet over the beans. Place the rice container on the trivet.
- Close Instant Pot with pressure valve to sealing. Pressure Cook (Hi) for 30 minutes followed by Natural Pressure Release. See notes for stove top method.
- Open Instant Pot and set to sauté mode. Carefully take out the Rice container and the trivet. Stir in cream, add garam masala and garnish with cilantro and dried fenugreek leaves.
Notes
- Don't have time to soak the beans? - Add an extra one cup of water and pressure cook for 60 minutes.
- Vegan Dal Makhani - Use oil instead of ghee and coconut cream or cashew cream for garnish.
- Variations - If using dry beans, add an extra 1 cup of water and increase the pressure cooking time to 60 minutes.
- Stove Top Recipe - Pressure cook for 45 minutes on medium heat and allow the pressure to release naturally.
- No Pressure Cooker? - Cook covered on low-medium heat in a heavy bottom pot until the lentils are soft and mushy. This may take two to three hours. Add one to two cups of water as needed and adjust salt, red chili powder, and garam masala to taste.
Nutrition
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InspiresN says
Love this dish , great comfort food as well!
Archana says
Thank you! A perfect recipe for cool weather.
Linda McBratney says
How much water do you add when you add the beans? I can't see it in the recipe?
Archana says
Hi Linda! You need to add 2 cups of water
Megala says
Delicious mouth-watering recipe!
Archana says
Thank you!
Tracy says
What size is the stainless steel container, for the rice?
Archana says
Hi Tracy, It is 6-1/2" X 3" stainless steel container
Tracy says
Thank you! I will be making this. It looks so good!
Archana says
Tracy, you are welcome! Let me know how you like it!!
chefkreso says
Delicious, great autumn recipe!
Archana says
Thank you!
Kellie says
I first saw this recipe on the FB Instant Pot page...I posted that I'd try the recipe soon. Well, made it yesterday. A wee bit of heat (fine with me!) and wonderful flavour! Really enjoyed; will go in regular rotation at my house. Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Kellie! So happy to hear that you tried and enjoyed this yummy recipe! Thank you for your lovely comments! It is on repeat in my home too 🙂
Kalbap says
Archana, loved this flavorful lentil dish. It is wholesome and without the grease and cooked without the sweat, thanks to the Instapot!
Archana says
Hello Kalyani! Thank you for your lovely comments. I am SO happy you enjoyed this dish and are using your Instant Pot!
Bethany Medina says
First time making something with these slice combos, amazing!!!
Bethany Medina says
Spice combos 🙂
Archana says
Hi Bethany, Let me know how you like it and if you have any questions since it is your first time using these spices.
Laura Serrano says
If you don't soak the beans overnight, do you still add 2 cups of water or more?
Archana says
Add extra 1-2 cups of rice for unsoaked beans.
Stefanie says
Would the cooking times differ if you don't cook the rice?
Archana says
I like the soaked kidney beans to cook really soft, so 30 minutes is a good cook time for me. You can always reduce it to 25 mins for slightly firmer kidney beans. Hope this helps.
S says
This might be a silly question but thought I would ask anyways! I have a HUGE tub of leftover Sour Cream - can I use this instead of the cream? or would that not work and/or curdle? any other tips on how to use this leftover sour cream is greatly appreciated 🙂
PS: I tried your palak paneer and it came out wonderful! I am so happy because it seemed like a big task before but now with the IP it is so easy and delicious!!
Archana says
Sour cream will not taste the same. What you can do is stir in a little in the end, taste and if you like the taste add more. IT will not curdle if you stir it in the end. AndI am so glad that you enjoyed the palak paneer. I make it often with chopped frozen spinach and its a breeze!
SR says
I made this the other day and it came out very well. I had to use an immersion blender to get it more to the consistency I wanted but the taste was very good! Thank you.
Archana says
Thank you for your lovely feedback. I am glad you enjoyed the flavors. And I love your idea to using immersion blender to make it creamier.
Shalvini says
Superb recipe!
Hit in my home... hubby loved my this valentine gift
Archana says
Oh yay!! Thank you for the feedback!! Happy Valentine’s Day ❤️
Elena says
Hi Archana, I’m planning on making this tomorrow night. Can I use yogurt at the end instead of cream?
Archana says
Hi Elena, Yes yogurt works. Just make sure you add some of the cooked beans to the bowl of yogurt and bring the temperature of the yogurt up. Then stir in the yogurt in the daal. Doing this prevents yogurt from getting curdled. Let me know how you like it.
Audree says
This sounds really good, but what if you don’t have an Instant Pot? How long do you cook for in a regular Dutch Oven Pot? Do you cover it? At what temp would you cook it at? Thanks!
Archana says
Hi Audrey, it will come out delicious in Dutch oven too. I would cook on medium low heat until the beans are soft are mushy. I would say about an hour. And yes covered will cook faster. You may need to add extra water.
Nabiha says
Look so delicious! I don’t have a hand held blender, though. What do you suggest?
Archana says
Hi Nabiha, you can mash the lentils using back of a spoon or even skip that step since the beans are cooked so soft.
Jitha says
Hi. I love your recipes.
If I use bean mode, the time remains same or do i change it?
Thanks in advance
Archana says
Same time!
Archana says
Assuming you are using soaked beans?
Jitha says
Yes. I soaked in the morning tocook in the evening.
Thank you for prompt reply
Archana says
You are welcome!
Jitha says
Thanks for prompt reply. Yes.. I am soaking the beans.. soaked in the morning to make it in the evening
Dinesh says
Amazingly easy recipe and made it. Have to take a few pictures once I put it into a bowl.
Archana says
Thank you for the feedback!
Q says
Hello! I'd like to double the recipe, should I also double the water?
Thanks
Archana says
yes!
Rebecca says
This turned out delicious! I love the packaged ones from Costco and was hoping to find a good copycat recipe to replace it in my life (less plastic waste). This one tasted extremely similar... yummy. And it was very easy to make. Thank you for this!
Katy says
My wife and I both had seconds and loved it! So easy to make, and I just made rice on the stove since I don't have the type of trivet and bowl you need to do the rice in the IP. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe -- I have already recommended it and will try a lot more from your site!
PS: I accidentally put in WAY more turmeric than the recipe called for. It was still great!
Archana says
Thank you so much for your feedback and kind words! I am so glad you enjoyed the flavors. Can’t wait to hear what you make next