Basic (Indian) Lentil Recipe

This is a basic lentil recipe that I wrote up for my friend Libby. This lentil is like a side dish–it should be soft, but not completely soupy, and can be eaten with rice or Indian bread.

1 cup dal (split mung, urad, muth, etc.)
3 +/- cups water
3 tablespoons canola oil (or other neutral oil)
1 small-medium size yellow onion
3 medium-sized cloves garlic
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1 level tablespoon coriander powder
1 1/2 teasponns cumin powder

Take out 1 cup of dal (1/2 cup if smaller portion is desired). Take out any
small stones. Rinse out the dal thoroughly in water so that water comes out
clear. This may take up to eight changes of water, depending. Then soak the
dal overnight or for at least a few hours. This cuts down the cooking time,
especially for toor dal and whole moong dal. After soaking, rinse the dal
once more, and boil it for an hour or so with a good amount of water (2-3
times the amount of dal). How do you know that the dal is done? The
individual pieces are soft, and may start to break apart in the water. The
mixture should have enough water to be somewhat soupy, and you can choose
the thickness you like best. Dal doesn’t need to be stirred much when
cooking, in fact it may be better just to leave it alone, but it needs to
have enough water or will burn. You can always boil off some more water
later.

In the meantime, cut your onion and sautee slowly in oil until it becomes
soft and translucent. You can add salt at this time. Add finely chopped
ginger and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, then add powdered spices. Cool
the spices, stirring frequently, until cooked, for about 3-4 minutes. They
will at first smell “green” and then will acquire a more dense smell as they
cook. When dal if finished cooking, add it to the spiced mixture and stir.
This makes a savory, tasty lentil, about 6-8 servings. (You can’t eat a lot
of this at a sitting).