If you’ve ever had the opportunity to be invited to dinner by a Gujarati family, you may be familiar with this particular dish called daar. It is traditionally made out of lentils and has a sweet, spicy and tangy flavor which accentuates any dish. This “soup” is so flavorful that many people are known to enjoy it as is or with a side of rice. The Instant Pot has made this traditional Gujarati dish, normally a chore to make, a breeze.
Gujarati Daar (Pigeon Pea Lentil Soup)
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
- 1 cup washed/rinsed toovar daal (split pigeon pea lentils)
- ¼ teaspoon methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
- 1 tablespoon ground/grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon jeeru (cumin seeds)
- ½ teaspoon rye (mustard seeds)
- ¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)
- 1 tablespoon lal mirchu (red chili powder) - adjust to taste
- 1 tablespoon dhana powder (dry coriander powder)
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ¼ cups tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon + 2 teaspoons oil (to use at different times)
- 3 cups water
- Dhana (cilantro)
- Small pot to use for tempering on the stove top
- Hand blender
Instructions
- Add the toovar daal (pigeon peas) to your Instant Pot
- Add the methi (fenugreek seeds) to the Pot
- Add the water to the pot
- Add 1 teaspoon oil to the pot
- Stir Well
- Set pot to MANUAL mode
- Set to HIGH PRESSURE
- Set timer to 15 minutes
- While the lentils cook, follow the next steps for the tempering
- Heat a small pot on High on the stovetop and add 2 teaspoons oil
- Add the rye, jeeru, hing (cumin, mustard, asafoetida) into the pot and cover the pot and allow to pop
- Once the popping slows, add in the tomato sauce- BE CAREFUL as the sauce will splash
- Turn down the heat to medium
- Add in the ginger, red chile powder, coriander powder and sugar
- Squeeze lemon into the mixture
- Stir well
- Allow to simmer on low for 5 minutes
- Once the timer goes off on the Instant Pot, allow the steam to release naturally for 5 minutes
- After 5 minutes, manually release the steam by opening the vent. The silver prong will drop back into the lid. BE CAREFUL OF THE HOT STEAM
- Press CANCEL on the Instant Pot
- Open the lid to see that the lentils are soft
- Using your hand blender, blend up the daal to get a smooth consistency
- You may add extra water if you want a thinner daar
- Add the tomato sauce mixture into the blended lentil mixture
- Stir well
- Turn on the Instant Pot to SAUTE mode
- Taste the daar and add salt accordingly
- Saute for 5 minutes
- You are now ready to serve the Daar
- Garnish with cilantro if you would like
Notes
Serving suggestion:
This dish can be served with rice or roti and your favorite dish. You can also serve it as a soup.
Variations:
Substitutejaggery (palm sugar) or any sugar substitute for regular sugar.
You can blend up fresh tomatoes instead of using canned tomato sauce.
You can add fresh or dried curry leaves when tempering the tomato sauce mixture.
Garnish with fresh cilantro right before serving.
This dish can be served with rice or roti and your favorite dish. You can also serve it as a soup.
Variations:
Substitutejaggery (palm sugar) or any sugar substitute for regular sugar.
You can blend up fresh tomatoes instead of using canned tomato sauce.
You can add fresh or dried curry leaves when tempering the tomato sauce mixture.
Garnish with fresh cilantro right before serving.
