Name: Panchmel Dal
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 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 Oil or Ghee (for vegan use oil or vegan butter); 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

Jump to Recipe

Panchmel dal is prepared with five lentils and is a great accompaniment for Indian flatbreads.

Bowl of panchmel dal — served with a roti on the side

Dazzling Dals

Theme of the week is dazzling dals. The first recipe I posted yesterday is Instant Pot 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 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.

This is a traditional Rajasthani dish. Rajasthan is an arid state with scarce fresh vegetables and hence the cuisine uses less fresh ingredients.

Bowl of pancharatan dal with roti — creamy dal, a filling meal

Lentils for Pancharatna dal

This 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 cook

There are multiple ways to cook this 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.

How to cook in Instant Pot

Following settings tested in mini Instant Pot but should work in all models and sizes.
Beans Setting - In this setting cook time is 30 minutes and natural pressure release (NPR). Lentils cook very soft and do not require too much of mashing.
Manual Setting - 10 minutes on manual and natural pressure release.
Lentils come out soft and chana dal is soft but still hold's it’s shape.
Both these setting work and depending on individual preference, use the settings accordingly. For really soft dal, 12-14 minutes manual is probably the ideal setting in manual mode.

Plate of dal with roti and cauliflower — A hearty meal

Panchmel Dal Recipe

📖 Recipe

Panchmel Dal

Panchmel dal is Indian dal prepared with five varieties of lentils or dals.

4.91 from 11 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Side Dish

Cuisine: Indian, North Indian

Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 30

Total Time: 35

Servings:

Calories:

Author: Usha Rao

Ingredients

1 tbsp Toor Dal
1 tablespoon Chana Dal
1 tablespoon Moong Dal
½ tablespoon Whole Moong
½ tablespoon Urad Dal
1 tsp Oil

Tempering

2-3 teaspoon Oil or Ghee for vegan use oil or vegan butter
3 small Green Chilies cut into 3 pieces each
¼ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
2 Cloves
2 Cardamons
⅛ teaspoon Asafoetida
½ tsp Coriander Powder
¼ teaspoon Turmeric
¼ - ½ teaspoon Amchur Powder
¾ teaspoon Salt
1 cup Water
Few drops Lime Juice as required

Instructions

Cook Dals

Wash dals and cook in instant with ½ - ¾ cup water and ½ teaspoon 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.

Tempering

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.

Final Touch to Dal

Immediately pour tempering in 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.

Notes

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.
Use oil or vegan butter for a vegan recipe.

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