Pigeon pea is generally used as a dhal i.e., in split form therefore, it is important to check its splitting i.e., hulling efficiency and maximum dhal recovery. Pre-treatments are commonly given for loosening and removing of the seed coat with retaining its edible portion. Enzymes viz. xylanase, pectinase and cellulose were applied to evaluate the dehusking properties of pigeon pea grains. The effect of four enzymatic parameters, i.e., enzyme concentration (20–50 mg 100 g−1 dry matter), incubation time (4–12 h), incubation temperature (35–55°C) and tempering water pH (4.0–6.0) on dehusking efficiency were optimized with statistical package response surface methodology (RSM). In which the hulling efficiency with a high value for the coefficient of determination R2 (0.92) described satisfactorily quadratic model. It predicted 76.54–82.80% hulling efficiency, 20.70–25.30% protein content and 12.42–15.10 min cooking time at optimized enzyme concentration of 27.64–31.34%, incubation time 7–9 h, incubation temperature 43–45°C and 5–6 pH value for different varieties of pigeon pea as compared to 66.00–78.30% hulling efficiency, 18.74–21.81% protein content and 13.23–18.00 min cooking time for traditional oil treatment. It shown that increased hulling efficiency and protein content and decreased cooking time for enzyme pretreated pigeon pea compared to the oil pretreated method.