Place water, dal, chopped onions, chopped tomatoes, ginger, garlic, turmeric, garam masala, salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, and cayenne pepper in your pressure cooker.
Secure the lid on the pot. Set the Instant Pot at High pressure for 20 minutes. When cook time is complete, let pot release pressure naturally for 10 minutes, and then release all remaining pressure.
Mix in the tamarind concentrate or lemon juice, and sugar and stir well.
Garnish with cilantro or parsely and serve with either rice or Naans
NOTES
This recipe can easily be doubled. Moong dal freezes very well, so it's great for meal prep and freezer meals.
You do not need to soak the moong dal ahead of time.
Do not add the tamarind or lemon until after the moong dal is cooked. Tamarind retards the cooking of lentils, and your dal will not soften as needed.
If you want really creamy dal--which trust me, you do--then use the back of your spoon to smoosh some of the cooked dal.
If you love the taste of ghee (homemade ghee is wonderful!), heat some ghee and to the hot ghee, add some cumin seeds. When they splutter, pour this flavored ghee and cumin seeds on top of the dal right before serving. SO GOOD.