Instant Pot red lentil dal
Split red lentils cooked to a creamy, golden dal with ginger, garlic and tomato, then finished with sizzling garlic oil, a soothing Indian staple that costs about a dollar a bowl.
- 40 min total
- 15 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 4
- About $1.18 a serving
- 400 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, 3 minced, 2 thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1½ cups split red lentils, rinsed
- 1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
- ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil, divided
- 1½ tsp ground cumin, divided
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 4 cups water
- 1¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
Each serving has about 400 calories, 19 g protein, 57 g carbs and 12 g fat, and costs about $1.18 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No diced tomatoes? Crushed tomatoes work.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
Set the Instant Pot to , add 2 tablespoons of the oil and the onion, and cook, stirring, 5 minutes, until soft.
Sauté. Sautéing means cooking cut-up food in a little oil or butter over medium to medium-high heat, stirring now and then. It cooks things quickly and browns them lightly without burning.
How you’ll know: You hear a steady, lively sizzle, not a hiss and spit, and the edges start to soften and color.
Timer: 5 min
Stir in the garlic, ginger, 1 teaspoon cumin, the turmeric and coriander for 1 minute, . Press Cancel.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Fragrant. Fragrant means cooking until you can clearly smell it, usually garlic or spices, often in about 30 seconds. That’s the moment the flavor is ready, just before it can burn.
How you’ll know: You can smell it from a step back, and garlic is pale gold, not brown.
Add the lentils, water and salt, scrape the bottom well, then pour the tomatoes over the top without stirring.
Dolly’s tip: Tomatoes on the bottom can scorch under pressure, so leave them sitting on top.Lock the lid, set the valve to Sealing and cook on High Pressure for 6 minutes. Let the pressure come down on its own for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to Venting.
Timer: 16 min
Open the lid and the dal for 30 seconds until it turns smooth and creamy.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: It thickens as it sits. Stir in hot water a splash at a time if it gets too thick.Heat the last tablespoon of oil in a small over medium heat. Add the garlic, pepper flakes and the rest of the cumin and cook about 1 minute, until the garlic is .
Skillet. A skillet is a frying pan: wide and flat with low, sloped sides. The shape lets steam escape, so food browns instead of stewing.
How you’ll know: It’s the pan you’d fry an egg in, and a 10 or 12 inch one handles most recipes.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Medium heat
Dolly’s tip: Pull it off the heat the moment the garlic turns golden. Seconds later it turns bitter.Pour the sizzling oil over the dal, squeeze in the lemon, and serve with cilantro, over rice if you have some.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
