A rich and creamy coconut dal that’ll have you loving lentils. We are cooking yellow lentils in flavorful, spiced coconut milk – and it only takes minutes to make! Top with a drizzle of ghee or butter for a decadent, comforting bowl of dal.
Coconut dal is rich, creamy, and takes minutes to make – it’s my go-to dal on days when I want something filling and comforting without the fuss.
It’s essentially a Pour-and-Cook Recipe that calls for a handful of ingredients. This is what I make when I don’t have time to prep ingredients or when I have nothing planned for dinner. It has saved us from ordering takeout on many occasions (to my fast-food lovin’ husband’s dismay).
What is Kerala Parippu Curry?
If you’ve never had Kerala dal before, you can expect a rich, creamy, coconutty dal made with lentils that melt right into the soup.
This rich and creamy Kerala-style parippu (another word for “dal”) is a must during special occasions or festivals. It is one of the main dishes served during Onam, a harvest festival celebrated by people of all religions in Kerala. This dal (along with Avial) is always prepared as part of the sadya, a vegetarian feast typically eaten on a banana leaf. No need to wait for a festival to make this – we eat it all the time!
“Ashley, I made this two days ago. I’ve been blown away by all your recipes but this one is now my favorite. It has that South Indian flavor and aroma that reminds me of my friends in Andhra Pradesh whom I haven’t been able to visit in forever. Thank you for sharing both north and south recipes of the finest cuisine in the world!”
Russ
“Beautiful recipe, Ashley! I have your cookbook and made this and paired it with the coconut rice recipe in the book as well. Deeeelish! I highly recommend your cookbook to everyone!”
Maneesha
Coconut Dal Ingredients
Traditionally, this dal is made with freshly ground coconut paste, but my version calls for full-fat canned coconut milk. Using coconut milk makes this dish even easier to make. I’ve tried the dal with the coconut paste, but I honestly prefer the ease and smoothness of rich, full-fat coconut milk. You can use either toor dal or yellow moong dal to make this recipe. Try both and tell me which you prefer!
- Toor Dal: also known as split pigeon peas. You can also use yellow moong dal if you prefer.
- Coconut Oil
- Black Mustard Seeds
- Curry Leaves
- Serrano Pepper: or another type of green chili
- 1 Can Coconut Milk: full-fat
- Spices: salt, ground cumin, turmeric
- Ghee: optional, nice touch when serving
How to Make Coconut Dal
Press the sauté button, and add the coconut oil to the pot. Once the coconut oil melts, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, and green chili. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the remaining ingredients and pressure cook.
Once it’s done, give it a bit of time to cool down – it’ll look thin at first, but after a few minutes it’ll thicken up quite a bit.
What to Serve with Coconut dal:
Make sure to top this dal with a spoonful of ghee! Eat it with:
Instant Pot Kerala Parippu Curry (Lentils in Coconut Curry)
Instant Pot Kerala Parippu Curry (Lentils in Coconut Curry)
Ingredients
- 1 cup split pigeon peas toor dal OR small yellow lentils (moong dal), rinsed
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- ½ teaspoon black mustard seeds
- 30 curry leaves
- ½ – 1 Serrano pepper or green chili minced, to taste
- 1 ½ cups water
- 1 13.5 ounce can of full-fat coconut milk
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon turmeric
- Ghee for serving
Instructions
- Press the sauté button, add the coconut oil to the pot. Once the coconut oil melts, add mustard seeds, curry leaves, and green chili to the pot. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add the remaining ingredients to the pot.
- Secure the lid, close the pressure valve, and cook for 10 minutes at high pressure.
- Naturally release pressure (or wait 10 minutes then release pressure).
- Give this dal time to cool down; it will look thin upon opening the lid, however, after a few minutes it will thicken quite a bit. Drizzle ghee on top before serving (if desired).
Notes
- You can make this recipe with either toor dal or moong dal – they have slightly different flavors but are both delicious!
- I updated this recipe (October 2020) so that it calls for rinsing the toor dal rather than soaking it first. My previous recipe called for soaking the dal for 2 hours, however, I no longer find this necessary for this type of dal. You can still soak the dal if you prefer to do so.
- This dal will thicken the longer it sits so feel free to stir in a bit more water when reheating if needed.
Flora says
Hi, How important are the curry leaves to the recipe, as I don’t have any. Is there anything that could be used as an alternative? Thanks.
Jennifer says
This is an absolute favorite! I make it once and sometimes twice a week. I add a couple of carrots sliced in discs. At the end of the cooking, I drop in a huge handful of power greens or spinach roughly cut up. Sometimes some green beans, snap peas, or asparagus. I put the instant pot lid back on and lock it, but I don’t turn it back on. I leave it like that for five minutes or so.
A squeeze of lime or lemon and some lightly toasted pumpkin or sesame seeds on top, along with the ghee, and I have a full meal.
BTW, I prefer golden lentils for this recipe but it’s also good with split mung dal.
Silly me, I’m so obsessed with this recipe that I see that I posted the same information in January. Oh well.
Lorraine McCall says
Hi, Ashley! Love this recipe. I’ve tried it with a few different kinds of dal – went a little nuts trying dal I hadn’t made before on my last trip to Sri Krisha Market in Springfield.
First I tried it with Whole Toor Dal. YUM! My new favorite. The consistency is a bit like black beans but smaller and tastier. Also, at the end of the 10-minute cooking time, the beans weren’t quite done so I popped the lid back on and added another 4 minutes and another 10-min natural release. PERFECT. One of my friends from Delhi was astounded at how good it was (American cook and all! HA!)
Today I made it with masoor dal. Following all the instructions above, it’s delish, but like lentil mush. If I used the masoor again with this recipe, I’d cut the cook time to 5 min. Any suggestions for this?
Anyway, LOVE your recipes and am grateful for all the time you’ve put into this great resource. I recently talked a friend into getting her own Instant Pot after she just became addicted to my dal. I took her to Sri Krishna (don’t know if it was here when you lived in the DC area), and bought her a number of different kinds of dal, and all the important spices. Also gave her my copy of your cookbook. She’s very happy cooking away. Thanks!
Lorraine
Jennifer says
This is an absolute favorite! I make it at least once a week.
I prefer golden lentils. I sauté one onion and some garlic after sautéing the mustard seeds, curry leaves, & pepper.
I also add a couple of big carrots cut into discs along with the rest of the ingredients before pressure cooking. I’m not vegetarian, so I like the rich taste of chicken broth in place of the water.
At the end, I dump in a big handful or two of spinach or other greens lightly cut up and let them wilt in the hot dal before serving.
KC says
Can you please put serving size? Is this for one person, 2 people? I’m making it now and I don’t see that anywhere
Christine Adams says
Hi, I am in Australia and we really do not use Instant Pots. Could your recipes be made on the stove or a slow cooker. If so what would the conversion be.?