Red Lentil Dal – Instant Pot
Red Lentil Dal is a washed and split Masoor Dal. It is a rich, healthy lentil packed with protein and serves as a great side dish for a meal. You can also serve this as a comforting lentil soup. This is an easy dish to make.I am in my seventies and surprisingly I had never cooked or tasted this lentil. About a month back we had dinner with our friend, where she served this red lentil for dinner. We loved it. I asked her how she cooked this dal. It tasted so good! After finding out which lentil she had used, I was genuinely surprised. I questioned myself: why haven’t I been cooking it? I see this red lentil in an Indian grocery store all the time but never thought I should try it. My friend, like me, was surprised when she found out that this was my first time trying this dal. She suggested this lentil for Alex (my husband) and explained that it will be good for him since it is easy to digest.After that dinner, I have made this dal many times. It is an easy, simple recipe and it tastes delicious. I serve this dal with roti, rice, and one dry vegetable (e.g. aloo methi). I thought I should share this recipe because now this dal has become a staple dish for us.Recently I have been using an instant pot instead of a pressure-cooker. It takes the same time as the pressure cooker, but the advantage is that you don’t have to watch over it when it starts steaming or when it is time to turn off. You can take care of other things in the meantime.This recipe will serve 3.
Ingredients
- ½ cup red lentils
- 1 Tbsp oil
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ⅛ tsp asafetida
- 2 dry red chilies
- 1 Tbsp thinly sliced ginger
- ½ cup chopped tomato
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cup water
Instructions
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Wash lentils changing water few times.
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I am using instant pot to make dal. Use the instant pot on sauté mode and add oil. After oil is moderately hot add cumin seeds, and mustard seeds, after the seeds crack, add asafetida, whole red chili and ginger stir for about a minute. Now take out the ginger and red chilies from oil and keep aside. We will use this later for garnishing.
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Next add tomatoes, turmeric, red chili powder and salt. Cook and stir until tomatoes are soft.
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Add dal and water, stir, and close the instant pot. Change the instant pot setting to pressure cooker mode. Cook for 14 minutes.
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Dal is done it should be soft. If needed add more water, dal should not be very thick. Dal will thicken as it sits. Make it more liquid than you want it to be.
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Take dal out in serving bowl and garnish with ginger and red chilies.
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Serve hot.
Originally posted 2020-10-01 15:30:00.