Instant Pot Lentil Balls Curry (lockdown special)

When you are in lockdown for a long time. It makes you remember the simpler times
and simple foods because you cannot go and buy special spices or gourmet ingredients.
Sometimes abundance and freedom to go anywhere make you forget the basic ingredients and simple things. Growing up my mom used to cook a lot of vegetarian food for me although I was an ardent non-vegetarian.
The most beautiful recipes do come from simple ingredients and traditional cooking.
The Lentil ball curry made of Red Lentil (Masoor Dal) and Spices that are always
available in an Indian kitchen and is one of my favorite childhood dishes my Mom
made.

My memories of lentil balls go back when I used to visit my grandma's house.
She used to make this amazing recipe of lentil balls in minutes. She can produce amazing dishes twice a day every day without visiting the vegetable market for a month, she was that resourceful.

Although she was vegetarian, had a herb garden and was lactose intolerant which helped her in her quest of staying inside the house.
This lockdown due to the COVID pandemic has made me think of her often and how self-sufficient and resourceful she was. This situation makes me guilty because these ingredients were always there in front of my eyes but I forgot the humble lentils, rice, potatoes, and spices that form the backbone of Indian cooking and always trotted around the town to find exotic spices and ingredients to have a culinary experience when I can have one with the basics like my Mom and Grandma.

Today I want to share Lentil Balls curry recipe with you, which I have tailored to fit in the Instant pot with dry ingredients so no green chili, and fresh herbs. Although I used a tomato you can always use tomato paste from a can.

It's easy, super yummy, it's amazing and this is a dish from your pantry and it
does not require any fresh ingredients. Enjoy it with a bowl of hot rice.

Ingredients

For Lentil Fritters (Daler Bora):

• 1 cup Masoor dal 
• 1 tsp red chili powder
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 1 tsp carom seeds
• 1tsp turmeric powder
• 1garlic clove
• ½ onion if medium or  ¼ if large 
• Pinch of Asafoetida
• to taste Salt

For the Curry:

• 1½ Onion if medium,½ if large, chopped
• 1 Potato -medium, peeled and chopped
• 2 Tomato - medium, chopped (4Tbsp of tomato paste)
• 2 red chilies - slit(I used dried red chili)
• 1 tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• ½ tsp chili powder 
• 1 bay leaf
• to taste salt

INSTRUCTIONS

To make Lentil fritters:

1. Soak the red lentil in water for 2 hours. Then grind them along with red chili powder, salt, turmeric, and garlic into a coarse paste (just 2 or 3 pulses in the grinder)using little water. Ground paste should not be too watery. 

2. Then add the onion, carom seeds, turmeric powder, asafoetida, and chopped ginger. Mix all the ingredients in the batter.

3. Heat oil in a pan, fry the ground mixture until golden brown all over.

4. Remove onto a paper towel and set aside

To make the Curry:

1. Put the instant pot on saute mode for 25 minutes.

2. Heat 2tbsp oil in the instant pot, add the dry chilies, cumin seeds, and bay leaf. Once the seeds start to splutter, add the onions. Once onions start translucent, add the potato and cook covered with glass lid until tender, about 5-6 minutes. Mix them with a steel ladle all together and again saute with the lid on for 5 minutes.

3. Next, add the tomatoes and all the dry masalas. Cover with a glass lid and cook until tomatoes turn mushy for 8 minutes.

4. Add salt and 1cup of water. Add the fritters, close the instant pot lid, and put the pressure mode for 3 minutes. After 3 minutes move the whistle to venting mode and when the steam is released completely open the instant pot lid and serve it with hot rice.