Recipe Cooked, Photographed and Written by Praveena
PrepTime:2 min CookTime:10 min Cuisine:Indian
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Toor Dal / Kandi Pappu / Yellow Lentils have many health benefits like improves digestion, good source of protein, iron, fibre, controls cholesterol, has folic acid. Toor dal is one of the most common pulses in an Indian kitchen.
This recipe of Plain Toor dal is a very common one for any Indian Mum. It is purely Vegan + Gluten free recipe.
The same recipe can be used with Split Yellow Mung Lentils, Red Lentils and any Yellow Lentils like Chana Dal as well.

Table of Contents:
Click to Expand / Collapse
- How to serve, ‘Muddha Pappu / Plain Dal / Plain Lentil Stew’:
- Other recipes from my blog:
- Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Muddha pappu / Plain Dal / Plain Lentil Stew’:
- Stove Top Method Plain Dal:
- Instant Pot Method Plain Dal:
- Tips & Storage:
- Result:
- Ingredients, Accessories on ‘AMAZON’ to ‘SHOP’:
- Recipe Card & Print:

How to serve, ‘Muddha Pappu / Plain Dal / Plain Lentil Stew’:
One best combination which is most common in Telugu Cuisine is [Muddha Pappu + Mukkala Pulusu] as shown in the pic below.
Detailed recipe for Mukkala Recipe⇒ Mukkala Pulusu/ Dhappalam / Indian Vegetable Soup

Other recipes from my blog:
Before starting to cook, don’t forget to see the Tips mentioned at the end.
Dal recipes collection⇒ Dal / Pappu / Lentil Stew
Daily thali / platters⇒ Bhojanam / Thali / Meal Platter
Instant pot recipes collection⇒ Electric Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Recipes
Related Posts:




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Ingredients:
- Toor dal / Kandi Pappu/ Split pigeon pea Lentils – 1 cup
- Turmeric powder – ¼ teaspoon
- Salt – 1½ teaspoons
- Water – for boiling and cooking
Special Ingredients:
- Turmeric powder

Step wise pics Procedure for ‘Muddha pappu / Plain Dal / Plain Lentil Stew’:
Stove Top Method Plain Dal:
Firstly, take the lentils/ kandipappu /toor dal into a sauce pan / vessel. Wash them twice thoroughly.

Pour 3 cups of water. Close with lid. Put the vessel on stove top under medium flame, let them cook.
In between, add more water, if required. Might take 15 to 20 mins to cook.

When the dal is cooked, it absorbs all the water. At this stage, Add ¼ cup of water, the salt and turmeric powder.

Stir everything thoroughly and let it cook for up to 3-5 mins or until it thickens.
Switch the flame off and take it into a serving dish. Done!!

Instant Pot Method Plain Dal:
Take the toor dal / split pigeon pea lentils, into the Instant Pot vessel.

Wash the lentils thoroughly 2 to 3 times. Now, add 3 cups water. Close the IP lid.
Set the time to 5 mins, MODE to PRESSURE COOK, valve to SEALING, pressure level to HIGH.

After NPR (natural pressure release), open the IP lid. Add the turmeric powder, salt and ½ cup water (optional).

Just mix up everything. Use sauté mode for 3 mins, only if you prefer the dal to be thick. Done!

Tips & Storage:
- This is a No Tempering recipe but you can do the tempering if you prefer.
- Stove Top Pressure Cooker Method: I have a small pressure cooker suitable for making the stew/dal. Just follow the same recipe of the Instant Pot method, but allow for 3 whistles.
- Adjust the salt as per your taste.
- Storage: Muddha pappu / plain lentil stew, at room temperature is just 1 day.
- Pour it in an air tight container, and refrigerate. It stays good up to a week.
Result:
- The taste of this muddha pappu / plain lentilstew is plain and texture is soft.
- It is suitable as a side with any kind of steamed rice, millets or even quinoa.
- One combination which is most common is [Muddha Pappu + Mukkala Pulusu] as shown below.
- We had it as part of our bhojanam/meal as as shown below.

Ingredients, Accessories on ‘AMAZON’ to ‘SHOP’:
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Recipe Card & Print:

Muddha Pappu / Plain Dal / How to Cook Plain Lentils (Stove Top, Instant Pot methods)
Equipment
- Sauce Pan / Vessel (for stove-top method)
- Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker (for IP method)
Ingredients
- 1 cup Toor dal / Kandi Pappu/ Split pigeon pea Lentils
- ¼ teaspoon Turmeric powder
- 1½ teaspoons Salt
- as required Water (for boiling and cooking)
Instructions
Stove Top Method Plain Dal:
- Firstly, take the lentils/ kandipappu /toor dal into a sauce pan / vessel. Wash them twice thoroughly.
- Pour 3 cups of water. Close with lid. Put the vessel on stove top under medium flame, let them cook.In between, add more water, if required. Might take 15 to 20 mins to cook.
- When the dal is cooked, it absorbs all the water. At this stage, Add ¼ cup of water, the salt and turmeric powder.
Instant Pot Method Plain Dal:
- Take the toor dal / split pigeon pea lentils, into the Instant Pot vessel.
- Wash the lentils thoroughly 2 to 3 times. Now, add 3 cups water. Close the IP lid, set the time to 5 mins, MODE to PRESSURE COOK, valve to SEALING, pressure level to HIGH.
- After NPR (natural pressure release), open the IP lid. Add the turmeric powder, salt and ½ cup water (optional).
- Just mix up everything. Use sauté mode for 3 mins, only if you prefer the dal to be thick. Done!
Notes
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Interesting recipe, I have tried this simple subtle recipe in instantpot. My toddler loves this one. Thanks!