Dal

Development stage: stable. Servings: 4. Origin.

This recipe is basically boiled lentils with some spices. We fry the spices before mixing them into the lentils to enhance the flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• 3 cups room temperature water
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 cup diced yellow onion
• 1 chili pepper or chili sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely minced ginger root
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• chopped cilantro leaves for garnish (or replace with spring onion)

Preparation

Rinse the lentils and place them in a pot with 3 cups of water. Cook until water is absorbed.

In parallel fry the spices:

• Heat the oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds, cook until fragrant.
• Add the onion, chili, garlic and ginger; fry until the onions turn translucent.
• Add the turmeric, cardamom, paprika, cinnamon, salt and tomato. Cook until the tomato begins to fall apart.

Once the lentils are cooked, stir the spices onion mixture into the pot of lentils. Add the lemon juice and stir well. Garnish with cilantro or spring onion; serve with basmati rice.