Garlic Flavored Lentils

Made with masoor daal (orange lentils) this dish is simple and very tasty. It is in fact almost a staple in most homes. It makes a great accompaniment for plain boiled rice and a vegetable or meat dish. The recipe makes enough for 2-3 servings and is best made in a pressure cooker - it gets done faster this way.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup masoor daal
• 3 cups water
• 2 tbsps vegetable/sunflower/canola cooking oil
• Salt to taste
• 1 onion chopped fine
• 1 tomato chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp red chilli powder
• 3 tbsps ghee (clarified butter)
• 3 dry red chillies stalks removed and broken into small pieces
• 1/2 tsp asafetida
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 8-10 cloves of garlic

Preparation:

1. Wash the daal thoroughly.
2. Mix the daal, water, cooking oil, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt to taste, onion and tomato in the pressure cooker or a deep pan and boil till the lentils are very soft.
3. In another small pan, heat the ghee well and add the cumin seeds which will sizzle. When they stop sizzling add the garlic and dry red chillies and fry till the garlic is light brown. Add the asafetida and turn off the fire.
4. Quickly add this ghee and spice mixture to the boiled daal and stir well.
5. Eat piping hot with rice and other dishes.

Garlic Flavored Lentils