A spicy dal, or a simple chili. Instant Pot. Inspired by Chef AJ

Super simple food, really, and delicious to boot.

Red Lentil Chili/Dal - Instant Pot

Inspired by Chef AJ, adapted from Instant Pot Recipe book

instantpotme.com

Ingredients

1 tbsp of panch puran

1 cup water with Yondu for the sauté

1 medium/small Onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic

1-2 carrots, shredded or sliced thin

1 large red bell pepper

2-3 Thai chilis

1 Jalapeño

1 cup red lentils

4 cups water

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp parsley flakes or fresh chopped parsley

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp salt-free chili powder

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp chipotle powder (or more)

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 tsp cumin, milled

1 tsp caraway, milled

1 tsp fennel, milled

1 piece of turmeric minced, or a tsp of turmeric powder

1 14.5 Oz can of diced tomato (fire roasted)

1 6 Oz can of salt-free tomato paste

Directions

1)

Set aside the tomatoes, red bell pepper.

2)

In a large soup pot, first roast the tablespoon of panch puran, then water sauté or dry sauté the onion, garlic, peppers until translucent, about 8-10 minutes.

3)

Add remaining ingredients but not the tomatoes, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and cook until lentils are creamy, about 20 minutes.

4)

Blend the tomatoes, bell pepper and garlic in blender and blend until smooth. Skip this step if you like it chunky.

5)

a) Place all ingredients in an electric pressure cooker and cook on high for 10 minutes,

or b) place all ingredients in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

Garnish with finely chopped scallions and a sprinkling of Faux Parmesan (or nutritional yeast).

Notes

Optionally, you can make this with more veggies, liek beet greens, chard, and other such. In that case, I left out the tomato puree.

I also made it more spicey and aromatic than the original from chef AJ, but by including veggies, it becomes more of a dal.

For offsetting the acidity of tomatoes, I prefer using a carrot over using dates or date sugar (which is really granulated dates, which still has the fiber in it, it is not refined, like sugar).