SPICE KISSED MASOOR DAL (SPLIT RED LENTILS)

Spice Kissed Masoor Dal (Split Red Lentils) image

I love tasty food, especially when it can be made quickly and be made from ingredients I usually have on hand. I've cooked many recipes for dal over the years, eaten many varieties of dal dishes out at restaurants, and I'm always looking for the next best dal recipe that I can make at home. This is it!

Provided by jo_mama

Categories Lunch/Snacks

Time 35m

Yield 5 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 14

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Ingredients

1 tablespoon peanut oil (or other fat such as ghee, butter, grapeseed oil, etc.)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon garam masala powder
2 cups masoor dal
water, to cover the dal as it cooks
1 cup green peas, frozen
2 tablespoons butter (butter or ghee preferably(other light flavor oils also ok to substitute)
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons garam masala powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 teaspoon ginger, freshly grated or minced

Steps:

In a medium sized pot over medium flame, add 1 tbsp peanut oil, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp ginger powder, and 1 tsp garam masala powder. Stir spices and oil together, allow to fry slightly (when you smell the spices releasing their fragrance you're done).
Add the dal and water to cover (by an inch or so), turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Skim off foam that forms on top and discard. Cover and turn the heat to low. Allow to simmer until dal begins to fall apart and is cooked through. While cooking, monitor the water level. If it is too low, the dal will burn to the bottom of the pan, so add more water. If the water level is too high, uncover the pan so some will evaporate. When done, the dal should be a porridge consistency--not watery, but not burning to the bottom of the pot.
Heat frozen green peas (I usually defrost in the microwave with a few tablespoons of water), drain excess water, and add to cooked dal.
Taste dal and adjust salt. Since you have not salted the pan yet, you may need to add a few teaspoons to tablespoons of salt. Add slowly--you can always add more but it is hard to get rid of too much.
Make the tadka: In a frying pan over medium heat add the butter, 1 tsp tumeric powder, 2 tsp garam masala powder, and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes. Fry lightly until spices release their fragrance. Add the onion and fry for another few minutes to the softness you desire. Add the garlic and ginger and fry for another 2 minutes. Add tadka mixture to dal mixture and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
Serve Spice Kissed Masoor Dal over rice with yogurt, raita, red raw onions, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes or other fresh vegetables of your liking.
To read about dal, visit the wikipedia page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dal.
To read about tadka, visit the wikipedia page at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaunk.