Easy Peasy Instant Pot Bengali Dhal

I've been having a lazy Sunday and Dhal .... lentil soup ... is my ultimate bengali comfort food.

When I'm at my parents, to this day, we always have rice, torkari (bengali curry), bhaaji (bengali stir fry), and dhal for dinner - and its become a ritual to end our dinners with the dhal and rice for all of us. Typically, mom makes misoori dhal, which is the red split lentils, and often she jazzes it up with tomato and mango! The additional tang to the dhal is what takes it over the top for me.

I have experimented with dhal enough times to have finally landed on a version that I make on the regular. It's cooked in the instant pot and finished with a simple baagaar.

What's baagaar? Baagaar is the bengali word for tempering oil. It's a technique in which spices are roasted in oil or ghee. This releases essential oils making the flavour more aromatic.

Although at times, I'll top the dhal and rice off with a simple onion and green chilli omelette, or fresh veggie bhaaji, it's perfect on its own and it never fails to hit the spot!

Ingredients:

1 cup of misoori dhal (red split lentils), washed and drained

2 Tomato, diced

5 cloves of garlic, sliced

2 tsp turmeric

1 green chilli, halved or 2 if you want it a little more spicy

1 tbsp salt

Cilantro to garnish

3 tbsp oil half a small onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp cumin seeds

Method:

1) Pressure cook it - Add the lentils, tomato, garlic, turmeric, chilli, and salt to your instant pot with 4 cups of water. Cook at HP for 10mins.

2) Add the baagaar - Release the pressure on your IP, take off the lid, set the IP to saute let it simmer for about 20 mins. Meanwhile, get the baagaar ready. In a small sauce pan, heat oil and add the onions until they start to brown. Add in the cumin seeds, stir, take off heat, and add the entire baagaar into the dhal. You then throw in your chopped cilantro and turn off the IP. The key to a perfect dhal in my opinion is getting the amount of salt bang on, so sometimes I add more while it simmers.

3) Enjoy on rice with a squeeze of lemon or a side of the aachar of your choice.

xo,

Biya