Panchmel dal is prepared with five lentils and is a great accompaniment for Indian flatbreads.
Dazzling Dals
Theme of the week is dazzling dals. The first recipe I posted yesterday is dal tadka which is prepared with toor dal and the second recipe is panchmel dal.
What is Panchmel Dal?
Dazzling panchmel dal is made with five lentils. Quantity and type of dals/lentils varies from household to household. Cooked lentils are seasoned and, tempered with cumin and asafoetida. Authentic version is a no onion garlic recipe. However, recent versions have adapted onion garlic and tomato as well.
Panchmel dal is a traditional Rajasthani dish. Rajasthan is an arid state with scarce fresh vegetables and hence the cuisine uses less fresh ingredients. I do not know if my version is authentic but the main reason I made it with no onion garlic is to keep it as close to the traditional recipe as possible.
Lentils for Panchmel Dal
Panchmel Dal is a 5 lentils dal or 5 lentils Indian stew. Lentils used are toor dal, whole moong, chana dal, urad dal with/without skin, masoor dal and moong dal. Of the six lentils mentioned above, one can pick masoor dal or moong dal as the fifth lentil. Regardless of the types used, the common dals are toor dal, chana dal, whole moong and urad dal. The fifth dal is subjective. I used split moong dal and is a good substitute for masoor dal.
There are many versions and some versions use equal quantities of all five lentils. Today’s recipe has equal parts of toor, chana and moong Dal, and ½ part each of whole moong and urad dal. I intentionally used less urad dal fearing a sticky panchmel dal as urad dal is sticky.
How to make Panchmel Dal
There are multiple ways to cook Panchmel Dal. The basic step is cooking lentils until soft. This is done either in an Instant Pot, stovetop pressure cooker or directly on stovetop in a saucepan. Once the dal is cooked, it is seasoned and tempered using ghee or combination of ghee and oil.
Panchmel Dal in Instant Pot
I tried two setting in mini Instant Pot to cook Panchmel Dal.
Beans Setting – In this setting cooking time is 30 minutes and I did natural pressure release (NPR). Lentils were very soft and did not require too much of mashing.
Manual Setting – I did 10 minutes manual and natural pressure release.
Lentils were soft and chana dal was soft but still held it’s shape. I was afraid chana dal was undercooked, however I liked biting on firm chana dal in panchmel dal.
Both these setting work and depending on individual preference, use the settings accordingly. If one wants really soft dal, 12-14 minutes manual is probably the ideal setting in manual mode, though I have not tried it.
Panchmel Dal Recipe
Panchmel dal is Indian dal prepared with five varieties of lentils or dals.
- 1 tbsp Toor Dal
- 1 tbsp Chana Dal
- 1 tbsp Moong Dal
- ½ tbsp Whole Moong
- ½ tbsp Urad Dal
- 1 tsp Oil
- 2-3 tsp Ghee or Oil
- 3 small Green Chilies cut into 3 pieces each
- ¼ tsp Cumin Seeds
- 2 Cloves
- 2 Cardamons
- ⅛ tsp Asafoetida
- ½ tsp Coriander Powder
- ¼ tsp Turmeric
- ¼ - ½ tsp Amchur Powder
- ¾ tsp Salt
- 1 cup Water
- Few drops Lime Juice as required
Wash dals and cook in instant with ½ - ¾ cup water and ½ tsp of oil.
Set settings to Manual/Pressure Cook, 10 minutes on high pressure and natural pressure release.
Open the lid, add salt, water and give a good stir.
Change IP settings to saute mode and bring dal to boil.
Meantime, in a frying pan heat ghee+oil for tempering.
Add cumin, cardamom, cloves and let the seeds sizzle.
Throw in green chilies and let the chilies change color.
Next go in the spices and powders.
Turn off the flame, pour tempering on boil dal, mix and cover the dal.
Cancel the saute mode and let the dal sit for few minutes.
Mind you instant pot plate is still hot and dal will continue to simmer.
After 3 - 5 minutes, remove dal from the inner pot from IP. Make sure dal has reached the right consistency and if kept too long in IP, dal will thicken as the plate is still hot.
Add lime juice now or squeeze some just before serving.
Serve it with some dal or rice.
- This recipe uses equal parts of chana dal, toor dal, moong dal and, ½ part each of whole moong and urad dal.
- For a variation make it with onion, ginger, garlic and tomatoes.
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This day in:
2008 – Mushrooms Green Bell Peppers Curry and Shrimp Curry
2014 – Mango Fool
2016 – Panzanella Salad
Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this BM#88
Sounds like an easy version of dal. The combination of dals is what makes the recipe unique. Love your photos Usha.
Mixed dal recipes have such a lovely flavor! Your version looks really good. I love the ease of cooking in the Instant pot. Picture are too good.
This is one daal that I have not made in a while and you are so right every house has their own version . My chef always added onions and garlic but actually no onion no garlic makes it quite authentic ,typical Rajasthani ! Delicious daal .
Oh, I was tempted to use onion tomato but held back. If your chef uses it, then it must be a common version nowadays. Will try it next time.
Just love panchmel dal with phulkas, and you plating is very catchy. Now feel like making some dal for my dinner. Love the way you cooked this dal through Instant pot.
I can’t stop drooling at that bowl of dal… so delicious! Like you said, totally depends upon the ratio of dals used… whichever way, it is going to be lipsmacking…
Love this panchmel dal with rice or roti…pictures are making me drool
Thanks Renu
Thank you ladies for your lovely comments.
Yet another fantastic one with very beautiful clicks. I love that plate having the dal, roti and some fritters along..what a yummy meal Usha.
That was an unplanned photo. I was eating in that plate and it looked very photogenic. Washed my hands, grabbed the camera and clicked the picture. Thanks.
Panchmel dal sounds so healthy and delicious. Perfect recipe for this series. It’s in my todo list for very long time, hope i will make them soon 🙂
Do try it Sandhiya. I was hesitant to mix all the dals but was surprised ho flavorful it was.
I love panchmel dal. It just tastes so different from the other dals. Dunking hot rotis into a delicious dal is comfort food.
Love the simple dal with the mixed flavors of all the dals. Clicks are as awesome as ever.
Love the combination of various lentils…your pics are breathtaking! Kudos to you
Thank you ladies for all your encouraging and wonderful comments.
That is such a flavorful and delicious dal – looks so creamy. Sounds very easy to make too. I have to try this one out some time soon.
I was surprised how good it tasted. Do try it Pavani, you will love it.
lovely captivating photos and great recipe !
Even I love Panchmel dal with some plain rotis, this even goes perfect with some steaming hot plain rice.
Panchmel daal is awesome tasting daal. Not made it for ages now n your pics are tempting me.
I made this several years ago on a dal theme as well Seeing your gorgeous photos is making me think this is another post I need to redo soon 🙂