Spicy but not flavorful

I have had this big pressure cooker for many years, but just recently started to use it. I thought it can cook food quickly to help with my busy work schedule, just like cooking with the oven. Since I have lost the instruction manual, it's intimidating using this cooker, because if not handled correctly, some pressure cookers can explode. Though when she gave me the cooker, my mom reassured that this one would not let you open if there was still pressure inside the pot. "You just have to wait until the nob came down." She told me.

One night, I made lentil soup with the pressure cooker. When the "whistle" blew (indicating there was pressure inside the pot), my dogs went outside of the kitchen, quietly laid on the hallway where they felt safe enough and still able to see what was going on on the stove. Thinking that animals have good instincts for safety, I also stayed a safe distance from the whistling cooker - just in case.

I let it whistled for 30 minutes in medium heat, then turned of the stove, I waited for 10 minutes until the nob came down, which indicated no pressure inside.

I tasted the piping hot lentil soup, said: "Hmm, it's spicy but not flavorful."

Jack: "How could it be spicy but not flavorful?" To him, the two are equivalent.

Then he tasted the food, and said: "Oh, I know what you mean."

I only put jalapeno to make the soup spicy. Salt and pepper obviously was not enough to make this all vegetarian soup flavorful. Well, that was a good learning experience, and we didn't finish it.

Since then, I have had some success in making chicken, chickpea coconut curry and other lentil curry. You can't go wrong with curry and coconut milk! I am thinking to make some corn beef with cabbage next.