Isn’t this funny? For an Indian cook, cooking toor dal is everyday job and what am I going teach about it?
There are few ways to cook the ingredients. Many vegetables and legumes should be pre-treated before added to the dish you prepare. I shall post one at a time which my mother follows.
How to cook Toor dal ? (Pressure cooker method)
For a cup of toor dal add 2 cups of water (depends on how much watery you want your dal but it should be atleast twice the amount so as the toor dal gets cooked properly). Add 2 pinches of turmeric. Add 2 pinch of asafoetida powder. Add 2-3 drops of Gingelly oil. This prevents dal from frothing while it cooks. add 2 pods of garlic. Pressure cook this to 3-4 whistles or until the dal is done.
The add-ons to the toor dal eases the digestion when eaten. There might be several regional methods of cooking different ingredients. I welcome all my fellow bloggers to share it.
Amma's special... 
Adding Garlic reduces gas formation due to high amount of protein. I make it in a similar way but don’t add asafoetida, will try that next time.
Will adding the gingelly oil change the flavor? I usually add Fenugreek seeds along with some turmeric and asafoetida….adds such a nice flavor and makes it more digestible.
🙂
No Trupti. Adding few drops will not do any change in the flavor. instead it keeps you dal bowl neat and clean when taken out of the cooker as it reduces frothing.
I add asafoetida while tempering. So the smell is not too overwhelming.
yes your suggestion is good. I will try.
Hi!
I will add oil and turmeric powder only.
great tip! i too add either garlic/hing while cooking dhall
Can anyone suggest how to cook dal without pressure cooker
Hey, I am a 21 year old girl, recently married, left at home with a poor husband while my mom and dad went vacationing. Today, when I was panicking that I dont even know how to cook dal, I came across ur site. I am gonna try this 2nite and will let u know how it worked…..thanks a lot.
hi,
first of all thank you very much for the recipes,
its really good
i am going to use it
thanks
We are from Indiana USA! Thanks for the recipe! It was very helpful!
Amma you’re the best!
hi ! Thanxs for the tip!
i always had probem using pressure cook. a lot of water usually spills out.
i will try ur method nx time
Trying to cook dal for the past 3 days in a Marriott hotel suite on a Induction top…. very difficult without a pressure cooker…. despite boiling it for more than 30 minutes, its still uncoked. …. is there a way tp get it perfectly cooked without a pressure cooker?
Without pressure cooker will need a good electric or gas stove (so much heat) to get it cooked. If the quality of toor dal is good and the water is also good, you will get it cooked in 30-45 mins. But have not tried on induction stove.
How long does it take to cook toor dal in a pressure cooker? I see comments that say 3-4 whistles, but how long does that take? Just wondering?
This varies with different cookers and usage. u can leave the same no. of whistles as you usedto do for cooking rice.
I have an American pressure cooker (Mirro brand). It has a weight numbered 5, 10, and 15 for pounds of pressure. Is 2 whistles similar to 10 pounds of pressure? I used 10 lbs earlier tonight to cook 1 cup toor dal with 2 cups water for 15 minutes. foamed inside the pan but not too bad. The dal had nice flavor and it got soft but some of it stuck to the bottom of the cooker. It did not burn but I had to scrub it off. Any suggestions.
One other question. On another webpage I saw a picture of what looked like a bowl or pan nested inside the pressure cooker with the dal inside the bowl. Can you tell me more about this cooking method?
Add water upto 1 inch height in the pressure cooker and keep a bowl (covered) with dal and water (as said in the blog). This way food stuff getting stuck to the pressure cooker can be avoided. You need to keep a whistle in addition in this method. This method is always safe.