Amaranth Dal (Instant pot):
Amaranth dal was made a lot in our house back in India. Green and Red Amaranth plants used to grow in our backyard. I find red amaranth leaves in the Indian stores in the US during summer. I never had luck finding green amaranth leaves. I bought a small bunch of red amaranth, plucked the leaves , washed and chopped them. You can also use the soft stems. I made this dal in the instant pot in 3 minutes,
Ingredients:
For the dal:
1.5 cups pink lentils (Masoor dal)
1/2 medium red onion chopped
2 Roma tomatoes chopped
Amaranth leaves from one medium bunch washed and chopped
1/3rd tbsp of salt
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
Juice from one lime
3.5 cups water
For the seasoning:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp black mustard seeds (optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 medium garlic clove chopped
1 whole red pepper (optional)
Here is what I did:
I rinsed the pink lentils in water
I added the lentils to the instant pot
I then added 3.5 cups of water to the instant pot
I added chopped onions, tomatoes, amaranth leaves, salt, turmeric, chili powder
I put the lid on the instant pot
I put the instant pot on pressure cook, custom, high and set the timer to 3 minutes
I let the instant pot cool and took the lid off
I mixed everything inside the instant pot together. I squeezed juice from one lime. This is our amaranth dal
I took the dal out into two bowls
For the seasoning:
I took a small cast iron wok and put it on the stove on medium heat
I added a tbsp of olive oil
I let the oil heat
I added mustard seeds, cumin seeds, chopped garlic and whole red pepper
I let them brown a bit and turned the stove off
I carefully added this on top of the lentils
Warm Dal with rice is a comforting meal
Enjoy