How to Cook and Freeze Lentils | Indian Meal Prep Ideas

Dals, aka lentils, are an integral part of Indian cuisine. Today I am going to share how I cook my dals/lentils (masoor dal, moong dal, and toor dal) in Instant Pot using the Pot in Pot method and how I freeze them.

It’s all about Meal prepping today! A simple meal-prep task of cooking and freezing lentils that saves you a lot of time!

My weekly meal planners & Meal prepping-

I have shared quite a few meal planners on my blog, and I have discussed the Meal prepping that I do for that particular week in individual planners. But I haven’t discussed Meal prepping, especially South Indian meal prepping in detail. It’s high time I should start sharing it. 

My meal prepping typically involves chopping vegetables and making idli dosa batter, soaking and sprouting beans, tamarind paste, chutneys more like thokku, some relishes, tamarind rice paste, etc. Also on my meal planners, you will see preparing rice and lentils and the dough for roti, the day before as a part of the prep work.

This year, especially after this work from home situation, I started cooking my lentils in bulk and freezing them. I thought I would save some commute time when I work from home. Yes, I did, but with kiddo’s online classes and other things, the schedule got messed up and became hectic. Thanks to these frozen dals and precut veggies, I was able to whip up some quick meals. 

It’s all about Meal prepping-

In my opinion, Meal prepping is for everyone. Whether you do the prep-work over the weekend or the day before, it helps a lot. I firmly believe that half of the cooking is done when you know what you are going to cook. :-) Meal prepping solves and answer that question – “what to cook” folks. It not only saves time and money but also reduces our stress. 

Hats off to those who can prepare fresh meals every single day. I wish I could do that as well, but it’s not possible in my case. So I rely a lot on meal planning and prepping, and trust me that’s what keeps me going every single day. Nothing can beat homemade food with love.  

In this post, I just wanted to share how I cook all my three dals (masoor, moong, and toor dal) in one shot in Instant Pot and how I freeze them. You can cook the dals in your convenient way either in a stove-top pressure cooker or Instant Pot. The Pot-in-Pot method is definitely a time saver. Do give it a try! 

Also, I will talk about sprouting and storing beans in a separate post. 

Pulses and Legumes-

My blog needs no intro about my love for lentils. I have over 40 plus lentils and legumes recipe on my blog. This post is about cooking and freezing the dals, but let me explain what lentils are briefly. 

Pulses.org puts aptly; Pulses are the edible seeds of plants in the legume family. And pulsecanada.com brings in the difference between pulse and legumes. (The below image makes it all clear) Pulses are part of the legume family, but the term “pulse” refers only to the dried seed. Dried peas, edible beans, lentils, and chickpeas are the most common varieties of pulses. Dals which are often translated as lentils are nothing but the split form of different peas and beans. 

Cooking dal | lentils in bulk-

An Indian meal or thali is incomplete without a dal. Dal tadka, dal try, khichdi, sambar, rasam, kootu all these dishes need either toor dal or moong dal or masoor dal. And when you have cooked dal ready, you can prepare any of these dishes in no time.

Guess what, with Instant Pot, the cooking time for sambar and kootu less than 5 minutes and you can very well cook basmati rice or quinoa using the PIP method while making sambar and kootu. Isn’t it amazing? 

I cook these three dals in bulk, and I use it over the weekdays. When I say bulk, I am not talking about three-plus cups of dal. I usually cook 1 cup of toor dal, ½ cup of moong dal and ½ cup of masoor dal. Here is the rough yield that I get. Please note, it varies depending upon the dal variety and quality. 

• 1 cup of toor dal yields approx 3 cups of cooked dal
• ½ cup of moong dal yields approx 1.5 to 1.75 cups of cooked dal
• ½ cup of masoor dal yields approx 1.5 cups of cooked dal.

Now, this dal quantity is sufficient for a family of 3 or 4.  But you can always adjust the measure and the dal variety as per your usage. As I make sambar at least twice or thrice, I go for more toor dal. 

Is it ok to freeze lentils?

The moment I say freezing lentils, the first question that we get is, is it ok to freeze the lentils. And the answer is yes. You can freeze, and so far, I have kept them in the freezer for about ten days. You can also store them in the refrigerator for about two to three days. You can read more about this on the lentils.org website as well. 

Before freezing the lentils,

✔ Mix and mash the lentils nicely before freezing.

✔ Allow the dals to cool completely before freezing. Freezing hot or warm dal alters the taste of the change due to the drastic temperature difference.

✔ Portion the dal and store them accordingly. Freezing the defrosted dal is not recommended.

✔ Store it in a silicone freezer tray or ziplock bags. Flatten the dal in the ziplock bags to save some shelf space. Do not fill the entire ziplock with the dal and leave some space. Make sure to squeeze all the air out of the ziplock bags before sealing to prevent the freezer burns. You can read about freezer burn and prevention here. PS- Freezer burnt food is safe to eat but the taste might be slightly different.

Defrosting the lentils-

I usually keep it out for half an hour and use it directly in the dishes. You can also transfer it from the freezer and leave it in the fridge 8 hours before. If it’s for sambar or rasam or kootu, I directly use the frozen dal cakes as is. I just pop them out of the silicone tray and add it to the dishes.

I have 5 more recipes coming with the frozen dal so I will explain the defrosting process in detail in those posts.

What about the taste-

We didn’t feel any different. It was amazing and again don’t try to freeze the defrosted dal. So portion it accordingly and store.

As always, I wrote a lot. (Can’t help it) If I have missed any points or if you have any questions, do let me know. 

Watch how I cook and freeze the lentils & Sneak Peek of my Weekend Meal Prep-

How to cook the dal in Instant Pot Using Pot in Pot Method-

• Rinse the toor dal and add it to the inner pot directly. Add the ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp gingelly oil, and 2.5 cups of water and mix well.

• Now place the trivet. As I mentioned in the post, I don’t have a separate tall trivet, so I use my egg stand as the trivet. And then place the stackable pan and add the rinsed moong dal, ⅛ tsp turmeric powder and 1 cup of water. Gently mix.

• On top of it, place the other stackable pan, add the rinsed masoor dal, ⅛ tsp of turmeric powder, and one more cup of water. Gently mix.

• Close the Instant Pot and make sure the vent is in the sealing position, and the sealing ring is on. Pressure cook the lentils at high pressure for 30 minutes. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally. 
• Carefully take the stackable pans out.

Prepping and freezing the dal-

• Mash all the lentils and let them cool completely before freezing. You can also use a hand blender and blend them but I usually mash it with a ladle.
• After the dal is cooled down, portion it as per your need and freeze them in the ziplock bags or silicone freezer trays. 
• PS – Flatten the dal in the ziplock bags and squeeze out the air as much as possible before sealing it. And don’t forget to label the dal.

Recipe Notes-

• Oil is optional. You can skip it if your toor dal cooks well and mushy. 
• Adjust the water quantity according to the dal brand and variety. As we are freezing, add just the required amount of water. We can always add water when making a recipe and thin it down. 
• You can cook the dal in the stove-top pressure cooker similarly with stackable pans—Cook for up to 4 to 5 whistles. 
• You can cook whole masoor dal, green moong dal, green lentils in a similar way, and mash and freeze them. 

PS: Follow me on Instagram or join my Facebook Group for more gardening and recipe updates. If you try this way of cooking and freezing dals, please don’t forget to comment and rate this recipe. If you have any questions, please leave a comment, and I will get to it asap.  Make sure to follow me on my Pinterest for more healthy and delicious ideas!

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How to Cook and Freeze Lentils | Indian Meal Prep Ideas

Learn how to cook dals in Instant Pot using Pot in Pot method and how to freeze them. A simple meal-prep task that saves you a lot of time!

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Pressure Cooking + Releasing Time30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Indian

Servings: 12 approx

Calories: 77kcal

Author: Srividhya G

Equipment

• Instant Pot or Pressure Cooker
• Silicone freezer tray or ziplock bags

Ingredients

Measurement details: 1 cup=240ml; 1tbsp=15ml; 1tsp=5ml;

• ▢ 1 cup toor dal split pigeon peas, rinsed
• ▢ ½ cup masoor dal red lentils, rinsed
• ▢ ½ cup moong dal split yellow mung beans, rinsed
• ▢ ½ tsp turmeric powder divided, ¼ + ⅛ + ⅛ tsp
• ▢ 4.5 cups water divided, 2.5 cups + 1 cup + 1 cup
• ▢ 1 tsp gingelly oil optional

Instructions

• Rinse the toor dal and add it to the inner pot directly. Add the ¼ tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp gingelly oil, and 2.5 cups of water and mix well.
  
• Now place the trivet. As I mentioned in the post, I don't have a separate tall trivet, so I use my egg stand as the trivet. And then place the stackable pan and add the rinsed moong dal, ⅛ tsp turmeric powder and 1 cup of water. Gently mix.
  
• On top of it, place the other stackable pan, add the rinsed masoor dal, ⅛ tsp of turmeric powder, and one more cup of water. Gently mix.
  
• Close the Instant Pot and make sure the vent is in the sealing position, and the sealing ring is on. Pressure cook the lentils at high pressure for 30 minutes. When the cooking is complete, let the pressure release naturally.
• Carefully take the stackable pans out. Mash all the lentils and let them cool completely before freezing.
  
• After the dal is cooled down, portion it as per your need and freeze them in the ziplock bags or silicone freezer trays.
  
• PS - Flatten the dal in the ziplock bags and squeeze out the air as much as possible before sealing it. And don't forget to label the dal.

Video

Notes

• Oil is optional. You can skip it if your toor dal cooks well and mushy.
• Adjust the water quantity according to the dal brand and variety. As we are freezing, add just the required amount of water. We can always add water when making a recipe and thin it down.
• You can cook the dal in the stove-top pressure cooker similarly with stackable pans. Cook for up to 4 to 5 whistles. 
• You can cook whole masoor dal, green moong dal, green lentils in a similar way, and mash and freeze them. 

Nutrition

Calories: 77kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 233mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 10IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg

I am not a nutritionist. The nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only. It varies depending upon the product types or brands.

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