Pressure cooked smooth moong dal topped with an assortment of toppings like onion, tomatoes, cilantro, spices! This Moong Dal Chaat is vegan, gluten-free and also oil free!
Rinse the moong dal and transfer it to the inner steel pot of the Instant Pot. Add turmeric, salt, 2 cups water and stir. Close the pot with the lid.
Press the pressure cook or manual button and cook on high pressure for 8 minutes with the pressure valve in the sealing position. Let the pressure release naturally.PS: while the dal is cooking, chop and get all the toppings ready to go.
Open the lid and stir. I added around 3/4 cup (6 oz) water at this point as the dal was super thick. Then use an immersion blender to blend the dal to a smooth consistency. If you don't have an immersion blender, that's fine, just mash using a spatula.
The dal should have a thick paste like consistency, it should not be thin. You can definitely adjust the consistency to preference but keep it on the thicker side for this recipe.
To serve place the dal on the serving bowl. You may drizzle some ghee on top of the dal here, I did not do that but it's a good option!
Top with chopped onions, tomatoes, green chilies, cilantro, ginger julienne, roasted cumin powder, kala namak, kashmiri red chili powder. Add the crushed papadum on top and drizzle with cilantro chutney.Adjust the toppings to taste. If you don't want it spicy- skip the chilies and so on.
Add a good squeeze of lemon juice and serve immediately. If you want you can even add tadka of ghee (1 tablespoon), pinch of hing and 2 dried chilies (crushed) on top before serving.
Notes
You can change the toppings to taste and preference. If you want to add some sweetness to the chaat, drizzle some tamarind chutney on top.
If you don't have papad, you can use papdi or sev too.
Dal thickens a lot as it cools. While re-heating you will need to add water to it. But remember to not make it thin for the chaat, has to be on the thicker side.