Spinach dal with tadka

Rinse the split peas very well and put them in the instant pot.

Add grated ginger, about 2 cups hot water, a teaspoon of turmeric and a teaspoon of oil.

Pressure cook 12 minutes in an instant pot (10 in a regular pressure cooker, 30 minutes or more in a pot, adding water if it dries); let the pressure release naturally.

Churn the dal smooth with a dal khudni, whisk or hand blender, adding a teaspoon of salt.

Heat a pot over medium-high, add two heaped teaspoons of ghee; once it melts lower to medium-low and add cumin seeds, a dry red chilli and hing before the ghee gets too hot, so the seeds do not burn and turn the dish bitter.

Add a good amount of chopped garlic, stir briefly, then the onion with a quarter teaspoon of salt; stir a few minutes on medium until just soft.

Add half a teaspoon each of turmeric and Kashmiri chili powder and a heaped teaspoon of ground coriander; stir a second on low heat.

Add chopped tomatoes and stir a few minutes without letting them go to mush, then the chopped spinach, saving a little; stir on high three to four minutes.

Add the dal and about a third of a cup of water if it is too thick; bring to a rolling boil on high, taste and adjust seasoning.

Simmer on medium-low about five minutes.

Tarka: heat one or two tablespoons of oil in a small pan, not smoking hot; add two deseeded dry red chillies, take off the heat and add a teaspoon of sweet paprika; pour over the dal, saving a little of the oil.

Add a dash of lemon juice and stir in the reserved spinach, which cooks in the hot dal and keeps its green colour.

Garnish with chopped coriander and a drizzle of the saved paprika oil.