Vegetable Red Lentil Stew, & 

Palak Paneer (Indian Spinach & Cheese)

I was busy doing summery things recently, including making dinner for special visitors ... Vegetable Red Lentil Stew, and Palak Paneer (Indian Spinach & Cheese). These are the leftovers. 

The Lentil Stew is based on Supper with Michelle's recipe. I say "based on," because 1) I used the Instant Pot (not sponsored ) and so needed to modify the instructions, and 2) I had no zucchini, the carrots weren't good, and after cleaning and tidying the house, I was just too tired to chop onions or cut up potatoes. (Apologies to Michelle. 😐) Instead, I used frozen chopped mirepoix mix (carrot, celery, onion), as well as frozen chopped broccoli. The lentils ended up very creamy. I hope that next time, I'll make it according to the recipe. My visitors and I enjoyed this version, so thanks, Michelle! 😃

The Palak Paneer is from Madhu Gadhia's New Indian Home Cooking, which has a lot of great, simple, healthy recipes. The Paneer (cheese) was also homemade, leftovers from the freezer. I don't actually press the Paneer very thoroughly, so I just broke it up and stirred it into the spinach. The key here seems to be slowly cooking the spinach for at least a half-hour, until it smells less like raw spinach. We also enjoyed this! 

Supper with Michelle Website, Vegetable Red Lentil Stew

Broccoli-Cauliflower Kootu

This was based on the Cauliflower Kootu of Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt in Healthy South Indian Cooking. I wanted something quick-ish and tasty, and remembered that I had some frozen homemade cooked masoor dal (red lentils), as well as the remainder of some frozen broccoli-&-cauliflower. I cooked them with some spices for this Kootu. The only thing was, I wasn't sure how much spice to add, and may have added a little too much. Otherwise, it was simple yet excellent. 

Punjabi Dal Palak 

(North Indian Kale & Legumes)

This was based on the spinach dal recipe of My Tasty Curry. I had kale, so I figured I'd try it this time; next time, it'll be spinach, like the recipe. I made the dish in an Instant Pot (not sponsored). Basically, I just cooked everything together for about 18 minutes on Manual/High Pressure, and let the pressure come down by itself.

This is a blend of spices, fresh ginger, greens, tomatoes, and 3 different kinds of legumes. I used mung dal (yellow split mung beans) and toor dal (pigeon peas), like the recipe, as well as masoor dal (red lentils). I didn't even think of pre-soaking the toor dal, but as I prefer to overcook dal anyway, it came out okay. I know better, so I count that as "operator error" (= my own error). The end result was just a little heavy and very thick -- but that just lends it more to other uses, so it's all good! 

I like having so many nutritious ingredients cooked all together like this. Next time, I'm sure it will be even yummier! 

My Tasty Curry Website, Punjabi Dal Palak

Punjabi Dal Fry, 

with Masoor Dal (Red Lentils), 

Tomatoes, Broccoli, & Cauliflower

This recipe was from Vegan Richa, and made in the Instant Pot (not sponsored). The tomatoes were leftover from a can, and the broccoli and cauliflower were frozen and defrosted, before I added them. Everything went together in the IP, which I set to cook extra (longer than the recipe) (to make sure the lentils were very well-cooked). The end result would have fit nicely into a 7-cup container, but I also put some in 2 smaller containers for the freezer. Instead of adding lemon juice directly, I squeezed fresh lemon juice over the portion of dal I was eating. This dal was good with toast (including as a sandwich), as well as over cooked potatoes. Yummy! 

Vegan Richa, Punjabi Dal Fry Recipe

Aloo Palak Dal 

(Spiced Potato Spinach Lentils)

This is based on the recipe of Vegan Richa. This was the first dish (vs individual veggies) that I made in the Instant Pot.

I left out the garlic and green chili, and used red lentils/masoor dal. I made the lentils first; when they were done, I stirred them, and they completely fell apart. (This was based on the advice that Vegan Richa had kindly given me.) While they were cooking, I cooked, on the stove, some canned tomatoes with spices, and I also cut up potatoes. (I included an extra potato.) I had thawed some pureed spinach which I'd frozen before.

Eventually, everything was added to the Instant Pot, and cooked according to the recipe. I did add a bit too much water, I think. However, the results were very warm, homey, and comforting in the cold weather, accompanied by a toasted half-pita bread.

Vegan Richa Facebook

Vegan Richa Website, Instant Pot Aloo Palak Dal

Khichdi, or Khichari 

(Red Lentils & Rice)

This is a nourishing Indian comfort food. I made plain masoor dal/red lentils (which turn yellow), to test out the Instant Pot. I did add some chunks of fresh ginger, to help make the dal lighter. After the dal finished cooking, I stirred it, as someone had advised, and the dal just fell apart. (For me, this is great, as this is exactly what I need, for health reasons.) Next, since that worked out nicely, I made some rice separately (on the stovetop), and flavored it with a simple tempering of oil turmeric, and cumin seeds. I did also add salt, at some point. For a meal, I mixed dal with the rice, for Khichdi, and accompanied it with yogurt. Normally, dal and rice are cooked together in this dish, and I'll probably do that next time. For this time, though, I was happy to have it like this.

Shorbet Adds 

(Egyptian Spiced Creamy Lentil Soup)

This was from a recipe of Claudia Roden in The New Book of Middle Eastern Food. Although the soup looks somewhat thick here (esp as it was the next day), it was actually fairly creamy in texture. I ground up the dry red lentils, added water to them, covered them, and let them soak for a few hours, before adding them to the soup. (Red lentils don't usually need to be soaked, except by me. )

Aside from the lentils, this also contains onions, olive oil, ground cumin and coriander, and salt. A pinch of Indian pav bhaji masala spice mix stood in for ground red chili pepper. I used frozen chopped mirepoix (onion, carrot, and celery) for the carrot and celery in the recipe, as that's what I had.

The soup is supposed to be served with a garnish of fried onions, but I was too tired to add that. For the toasted pita bread croutons, I toasted half a pita, and then broke it up into irregularly-shaped, crunchy pieces. Instead of adding lemon juice directly to the soup right after it was cooked, I just squeeze a few drops of fresh lemon juice into the bowl, before I eat it.