Spinach Dal Instant Pot

I was looking up recipes for Chicken Biryani and somehow decided I need to make Spinach Dal for lunch. I think I thought there might be leftovers to go with the Chicken Biryani I'm marinating now for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup lentils (or 1/2 lentils, 1/2 split peas)
• 2 tablespoons GHEE (or butter or oil)
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 medium tomato, chopped (optional, but recommended)
• 1/4 cayenne pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon powdered ginger (or 2 teaspoons fresh)
• 1 teaspoon powdered garlic (or 2 teaspoons fresh)
• 1 to 2 green chilies chopped
• 1⁄4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups spinach, finely chopped (or kale)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions:

1. Rinse lentils well and drain.
2. Set Instant Pot to Sauté - cook onions in ghee/butter/oil until softened.
3. Add in tomatoes and spices, and heat for a minute or so.
4. Use 1/2 cup of the water, to deglaze pan.
5. Stir in lentils.
6. Set Instant Pot to pressure cook on high for 10 minutes.
7. Allow to natural release for
8. Stir in chopped spinach.
9. Let spinach heat for 2 minutes or so, covering pot.
10. Let cool for a bit, then add in lemon juice.

 

Carole's Notes:

We liked this! I updated the recipe to use more lentils, so it was less of a soup and more of a stew.
I added some yogurt on top, and served it with homemade naan and apples for lunch.

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://www.indianhealthyrecipes.com/dal-palak-recipe/