Instant Pot Dal Bukhara – try this easy creamy black gram lentils made in the Instant Pot using my dump and done method. A rich, creamy whole black gram curry recipe made with tomato puree, vegan butter and cashew cream. Gluten-free, Soyfree easily Nutfree
Indian Dal Bukhara is an everyday and simpler version of dal makhani using minimal ingredients. Unlike dal makhani, which is made with black gram lentils and kidney beans, dal bukhara is made only with the whole urad lentils (black gram lentils) . Dal Bukhara is traditionally slow-cooked overnight but we make a simple and quick version using the instant pot.
I made this super easy by 1. turning this into a dump-and-done recipe. There is no sautéing needed for this one! Just add everything to the instant pot, set and forget about it. 2. I also kept this dal onion and garlic free, as traditionally it can be made with or without, but you can add some if you like. The recipe depends on the chef and restaurant. To add some onion and garlic, Just sauté for 2-3 minutes, cancel sauté and proceed as the written recipe.
Onion and garlic are avoided by some for religious, dietary, yogic/Ayurvedic reasons. But sometimes they are simply skipped for reasons like their shorter shelf life once chopped. They get stale and smelly easily esp with the tropical heat and no refrigeration, so Indian street food vendors and small restaurants often omit them.
I use canned tomato purée instead of fresh tomatoes to reduce the time and work needed even further! So just dump everything in the pot and pressure cook, no sautéing needed.
Once done, open the lid and fold in non-dairy cream or non-dairy yogurt and tomato purée. Bring to a boil and serve this creamy dreamy dal. There are so many lentils and pulses and so many ways to make them based on different state and regional cuisines in India. Explore the Dals on the blog and also check out 22 Dals in my first book and another 14 in my upcoming instant pot book.
why will you love this instant pot dal bukhara recipe
- It uses 8 main ingredients!
- its a dump and done recipe. No standing around sautéing needed. Just add all ingredients to the pot, set it and forget it
- It’s Glutenfree and Soyfree and easily made nutfree
- its creamy and delicious and tastes like a decadent restaurant dish!
See recipe notes if using lentils other than black gram lentils (urad). Usually this dal is smoked using a charcoal (dungar method) . For the additional smoky flavor, fold in a bit of smoked paprika.
This recipe is adapted from Dal Bukhara recipe from my Indian kitchen cookbook and chef Sanjyot Keer’s Dal Bukhara recipe .
More dal recipes:
- Handi Lentils
- Masoor Dal Tadka
- Spicy Urad dal
- Turmeric spinach dal- no onion garlic
- Hariyali dal- spiced greens and lentils
Recipe Card
Instant Pot Dal Bukhara
Ingredients
For the dal:
- 1 cup (200 g) whole urad (black gram lentils/black matpe beans), soaked overnight or atleast 4 hours. You can also use mung beans instead, see recipe notes for other lentil cooking time
- 2 1/2 cups (591.47 ml) water
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds crushed (preferably toasted)
- 1 inch ginger minced
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika or Kashmiri chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garam masala use less or more to preference
- 1/8 teaspoon asafoetida or hing see recipe notes for substitutes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves kasoori methi
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup (65.5 g) tomato puree
For adding later:
- 3/4 cup (196.5 g) tomato puree(canned) or unseasoned tomato sauce/passata.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried fenugreek leaves
- 1 tablespoon vegan butter
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (see notes for other smoky options)
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) non-dairy cream such as cashew cream or non dairy yogurt use coconut cream or coconut yogurt for Nutfree.
Instructions
- Oil the instant pot in the bottom because some pots can heat up unevenly and the lentils might stick.
- Then add all of the dal ingredients to the pot and mix well. Close the lid and pressure cook at bean mode at high pressure for 50 minutes or pressure cook at pressure cook mode at 50 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally then open the lid. Add in the tomato puree, salt, fenugreek leaves, optional smoked paprika and butter and mix well.
- Start saute and keep cooking until the mixture comes to a boil. Then add in the non-dairy cream or yogurt and mix in.
- Let it simmer for another minute. Mash some of the beans using your spatula. Mash them between the spatula and the side of the pot. Taste and adjust salt and flavor switch off the saute.
- If the consistency is not thick enough then you can saute for a few more minutes. Usually, this dal gets really thick after sitting so you want to keep a little bit of liquid in the dal. Or if you want it to be thinner, you can add some water or non-dairy milk and continue sauteing to bring it to a boil.
- Then remove the inner pot from the instant pot so that the dal doesn't stick to the bottom plate which is going to stay hot even after you switched off the saute.
- Serve it topped with some more non-dairy cream and cilantro and pepperflakes. A dash of lemon juice also goes well with the dal. Serve with roti, Naan, flatbread (regular or glutenfree) or rice or even garlic bread.
- Storage: Store refrigerated for upto 3 days. Freeze for upto 2 months.
Video
Notes
- Love this recipe? Get my instant pot book!!
- For brown or green lentils, pressure cook on bean mode for 25 minutes. For mung beans or beluga lentils, pressure cook 40 minutes. For small beans like adzuki, pressure cook 40 minutes.
- Oil-free : omit the oil and butter.
- Toast the cumin seeds on a skillet until fragrant and then crush and use. This is optional. You can just add untoasted seeds or use 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin.
- Stovetop saucepan: cook the lentils with the ingredients listed and 4 cups water for 1 hour or longer, partially covered, until lentils are tender to preference. Then follow the rest of the recipe for adding the remaining ingredients and mashing the dal while mixing
- Urad comes in 3 forms. The whole lentil/bean(Sabut Urad), split lentil with skin(Urad dal Chilka) and split without skin(white Urad dal). Most lentils and beans come in these 3 formats in Indian stores. You can see in the pictures that the recipe uses whole version. Depending on the shop they use English naming differently - black lentils or Indian black beans or black matpe beans.
You can use the split version in the recipe as well, just pressure cook for 11 minutes. - Stovetop pressure cooker: Pressure cook with 3 cups of water over medium heat for 15 minutes then medium low for 10-20 minutes.
- Add more smoky ness: toast regular paprika or fenugreek leaves on a skillet until toasty then add in.
- Tomato purée: I use canned tomato purée here. If you are using fresh tomatoes, purée them and cook in a skillet for 6-8 mins to thicken and then use
Nutrition
Ingredients:
- black gram lentils – whole Urad dal makes the best dal Bukhara
- turmeric, cumin, ginger, smoked paprika, garam masala and asafoetida are added along with, dried fenugreek leaves, salt and tomato puree
- after the lentils are cooked, we add tomato puree, salt, and fenugreek leaves
- vegan butter and non-dairy cream such as cashew cream or yogurt are added for creaminess. This is a rich recipe and to get the real taste I would not suggest reducing the non-dairy cream or butter.
Tips:
- This is a no onion garlic recipe. If you want to add onion and garlic, you can add in the beginning before adding the dal ingredients. Saute the onion and garlic a little bit and then add in all of the dal ingredients and then continue with the pressure cook process.
- Hing or asafeetida is used as a garlic substitute. If you don’t have any hing, just omit it. There’s enough flavor in the dal even without it. You can also add in a teaspoon of miso instead to keep it onion garlic free.
- For brown or green lentils, pressure cook on bean mode for 25 minutes. For mung beans or beluga lentils, pressure cook 40 minutes. For small beans like adzuki, pressure cook 40 minutes.
- Oil-free : omit the oil and butter.
- cumin seeds and substitute: Toast the cumin seeds on a skillet until fragrant and then crush and use. This is optional. You can just add in untoasted seeds or toast them in oil over sauté before dumping other ingredients or use 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin instead
How to make Vegan Instant Pot Dal Bukhara
Oil the instant pot in the bottom because some pots can heat up unevenly and the lentils might stick.
Then add all of the dal ingredients to the pot and mix well. Close the lid and pressure cook at bean mode for 50 minutes or pressure cook at pressure cook mode at 50 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally then open the lid. Add in the tomato puree, salt, fenugreek leaves, and butter and mix well.
Start saute and keep cooking until the mixture comes to a boil. Then add in the non-dairy cream or yogurt and mix in.
Let it simmer for another minute. Mash some of the beans using your spatula. Mash them between the spatula and the side of the pot. Taste and adjust salt and flavor switch off the saute.
If the consistency is not thick enough then you can saute for a few more minutes. Usually this dal gets very thick after sitting for a bit, so you want to keep a little bit of liquid in the dal. Or if you want it to be thinner, you can add some water or non-dairy milk and continue sauteing to bring it to a boil.
Then remove the inner pot from the instant pot so that the dal doesn’t stick to the bottom plate which is going to stay hot even after you switched off the saute.
How to serve dal bukhara
Serve it topped with some more non-dairy cream and cilantro and pepperflakes. A dash of lemon juice also goes well with the dal.
I like to serve this with roti, Naan, flatbread (regular or glutenfree) or rice or even garlic bread.
Why is this dal cooked for so long
Dals and beans are often cooked much longer than their usual required times in Indian cuisine. The expected dal is supposed to be creamy not all because of added cream but also because of the broken down lentils. This is also a feature of dishes like Chana masala. Cook for a long time, mash some and make a creamy saucy result!
Jill
One of my families favorite easy and delicious meals. So hearty and healthy too! I make this every other week. Freezes great too!
Vegan Richa Support
wow, yay! thank you for commenting. we love when the whole family can enjoy time after time! and yes, a perfect freezer option 🙂
Annie
Yum!! Really, what more can a girl say? There’s just me to feed and I usually make enough for breakfast, too. I cooked enough for three, ate it with flatbread and there was only a smidgen left over!
Vegan Richa Support
awesome! thank you! don’t forget to rate!
Moe
Do you mean tomato paste for tomato purée? I love your first cookbook that had this recipe in. I just made it!❤️
Richa
Canned purée. 1 cup Paste would be too much. Use 3 tbsp if using paste and add after opening the lid
Cindy
This is amazing. This might be one of my favorite recipes ever. Thank you!
Vegan Richa Support
I’m so happy to hear!
Kelsey
This is my favorite dish at my local Indian restaurant and it’s kind of unusual to see a recipe for it so I’ve never made it at home. Obviously was super excited to see this one! It’s a really good recipe. I added onion and garlic (sautéed in the instant pot for a few before adding the other stuff). Definitely will make again!
Vegan Richa Support
That makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for the comment, Kelsey.
Lentilsaregood
Thank you for this recipe, I followed it exactly. Although the lentils were cooked beautifully, if I were to make it again I would definitely add less tomato puree in the second stage, it tasted odd.
Richa
Sure adjust it to preference. It might depend on the puree brand. Maybe it was thicker or more concentrated. You can use half and add more only if needed
Sue
This was easy, yummy and creamy. Thanks Richa.
Richa
❤️❤️❤️
Nav
Hi Richa,
Unfortunately I only have moth and moong Dal (mixed together) in the cupboard, could I still use them for this recipe? – how long would I need to pressure cook them for (given they are mixed). Thanks!
Richa
Is it whole Dals? Or split Dals?
Nav
Whole daals
Richa
Yes those will work. Pressure cook 35 mins.
Nav
So I made it using the moth and moong beans and honestly it was just incredible!! What my husband loved the most was that the lentils actually retain their shape but they are cooked to perfection, not mushy and not watery just a really perfect consistency. I’ve made it for the weekend so I will likely add more water to it when reheating but hands down the best daal I’ve made, thank you so much Richa ❤️
Vegan Richa Support
perfect! great to hear
Sam
A big hit with my family and all my neighbours.
Kids love leftovers for school lunch the next day…..if we haven’t eaten it all.
I do double the spices as we are a family that loves strong flavors.
Vegan Richa Support
best laid plans, right
Sherry
Made this during the weekend and the creaminess of the urad dal is like nothing I’ve ever had before. Yummy and so easy!
Vegan Richa Support
excellent news
Kate
Absolutely fantastic! Keep the excellent recipes coming! I served with roasted carrots and broccoli chutney – no rice, no bread.
Vegan Richa Support
low carb Kate!
Ken
Excellent flavor and very easy to make. I used mung beans because we have a lot of them from another recipe and don’t use them often for anything else. I did used the 40 minute option as is stated in the directions for mung beans.
I did make a few changes. I make my own vegetable broth and used that in place of water. I don’t salt my broth so i still added the salt that is in the recipe. Next time I make this I’ll use water. I also used full-fat dairy Greek yogurt instead of non-dairy or cashew cream. My wife and I were the only ones eating this and we’re not vegan. I served it with a few pieces of chapati which i like better than naan because it’s lighter. I made the amount in the recipe and it said 6 servings. It was so good and we were so hungry that we finished everything. A side of rice would be good with this.
We have a daughter that is vegan but she is away at school. If I make this for her I would, of course, make it without dairy. I also told her about this website because it looks like there are a lot of other great recipes. This recipe is a definite keeper.
Richa
Awesome! Yes mung beans work great as well
John
Extremely delicious; thank you very much for the recipe!
As an aside, do you have any general recommendations for how to increase the spiciness of Indian recipes? (With authentic Indian flavors and spices, ideally)
Richa
Use Indian chili powder or cayenne and a bit of black pepper.
ADA
Hi Richa
Will it work if I just replace with dairy version – like whole yoghurt? Are there considerations to be aware of when using them? Thanks.
Trina
Just a little update. I had just about a cup of the Barbara left over, decided to make it into a soup to stretch into another meal for both hubby and I. Added a little bit of veggie broth leftover from another meal, and chopped veggies. I added carrot, red pepper, mushrooms and spinach. It turned out quite tasty and gobbled it all up.
Trina
Vegan Richa Support
sounds yummy =)
Trina
I made this for breakfast. Used stovetop pressure cooker, beans done in about 17 minutes. They were soft and no liquid in pot. Added more liquid and adjusted salt, and added all the add ins you mentioned. I am going to try making the almond flour naan to accompany. The dal is delicious.
Thank you,
Trina
Richa
Awesome! With stove top it depends on the stove and your cooker so it will take anywhere from 20ish to 40 mins
VA
Hi Richa, I’m so excited to try this recipe but I don’t have store bought tomato puree on hand. Can I make tomato puree at home? Would 3 tomatoes be sufficient? Any other tips? Did you use home made cashew cream?
Richa
Yes 3 should be good. Purée them in a blender and cook for 6-10 mins on the stove top to thicken a bit and then add. I use either yogurt or cashew cream. For the cashew cream, blend 1/2 cup soaked cashews with 3/4 cup water until smooth and use. You can add more cashew cream as needed for the right creaminess.
Nandu
50 minutes the instant pot will explode. Most days after soaking cook in less than 15 minutes. What is it made of, rocks.
Richa
Instant pot doesn’t explode. I’ve cooked food for 2 hours in it as well. Whole Urad takes a while to cook. Instant pot also cooks at lower pressure compared to stove top pressure cooker. 50 mins is perfect ad many have tried already
Fil
Richa, do you mean Instant Pot “High Pressure” setting when you mention the “Bean Setting”? My IP has all these modes, but what I find is that all they do is remember what you’ve preset – but don’t actually cook any different; since I’ve set my Bean Mode to many different setting over time, I am not sure my “Bean Mode” will be as yours – I am guessing you mean High Pressure / 50 minutes — correct?
Thanks! I love your recipes.
Richa
Bean mode at high pressure. I’ll update that.
Vineet Aggarwal
Hi Richa,
I’ve been a big fan of your blog for a while but have just silently enjoyed your recipes until now — this recipe was so good that I had to come out of hiding and comment on how phenomenal it is. My wife is a huge maa sabut snob, so it is hard to please her unless it has come straight from a dhaba in Punjab. However, when I first tasted this one when it came out of the Instant Pot, I knew it was an instant winner. When she tried it, she was blown away, and thought I had been working on it all day (she was floored when she found out it had just been cooked for an hour in the Instant Pot). The smoked paprika, creaminess, etc. was just spot on. THANK YOU for this recipe and for all of your amazing recipes…
Richa
Yay!! I am so happy it turned out so well and got your wife approval! Thank you for this wonderful comment! ❤️❤️
Sneha
Tried it for the first time and everything came together so perfectly. I used non dairy yogurt instead of cream. Thank you Richa for the quick and delicious recipe! Saved a lot of time.
Richa
Awesome! I love the dump done factor in this and it still tastes like so much work went into it!
Steph
Another winner! Going into our regular rotation. Thank you!
Richa
Yay!!
Sue
So yummy, creamy and comforting. Thanks for another easy and very satisfying recipe Richa!!!
Richa
❤️❤️❤️
Emily
This dal was sooo good and soo creamy! I was transported to an Indian restaurant! I bought the black lentils for this recipe and now it will be made again and again!
Vegan Richa Support
yay! sounds like a nice journey
Maneesha
Amaaaazing recipe, Richa!! Love love love! I enjoyed it with basmati rice and added some kashmiri red chili pepper for extra heat 🔥I am loving your recent Indian recipe posts! Please do keep them coming! It’s like doing a culinary tour of India!
Richa
Awesome!!!
Pratima
Sooo easy ! Love it !
Richa
Thanks! And comes out so good everytime!
A
Easy, smokey, perfect… Thanks to the Instants Pot “dump and (almost) done” aspect, smoked paprika, lack of alliums, and tastiness! I’m not always a fan of “smokey” flavored things, but this is delicious! I made it with mung beans, tomato paste, and a bit of extra water instead of black gram lentils and tomato purée since that’s what I had, and I added a chopped red pepper and some mushrooms, just for kicks… It turned out great, even with my “cooking” skills, or lack thereof! Thanks for an awesome recipe!
Richa
Yay!! You can use regular paprika or change up the spices for variation in flavor!