Masoor Masala

Today's recipe is a lentil (whole red lentils or sabut masoor dal) recipe which is mildly spiced and goes well with breads, Indian breads or with rice too.  A power packed side-dish.  It is very simple and probably a day to day curry which most of you might be cooking it as a regular dish.  But today when I cooked it along with kulcha's I thought why don’t I transform it into a post.  So here goes, my version of this yum and wonderful recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

Sabut masoor dal/whole red lentil	1 cup
Onions	2 medium
Tomato	1 big
Ginger garlic paste	1 tsp or 1/2 tsp each
Coriander & cumin powder	1 tsp or 1/2 tsp each
Garam masala	1 tsp
Turmeric powder	1/4 tsp
Red Chilli powder	1 tsp
Salt	3/4 tsp or as per preference
Oil	1 tbsp
Coriander leaves	To garnish

METHOD:

1.       Wash and soak the lentils for half an hour(these lentils do not need to be soaked overnight).

2.       Cook these lentils in the pressure cooker up-to 4-5 whistles.  They should be soft yet hold its shape.  If cooking them in a pan, cover the lentils with enough water and cook it till soft.

3.       In the meanwhile, finely chop the onions and tomatoes.  Reserve.

4.       In a pan/kadai, pour a tbsp of oil and bring to heat.  Add the ginger garlic paste, sauté, add in the chopped onions and sauté till they turn soft.  Add in the tomatoes and sauté till soft and mushy.

5.       At this point, add the turmeric powder, chilli powder and coriander & cumin powder and sauté well. 

6.       Add the cooked lentils to this masala and about 1/2 cup of water and mix well. 

7.       Add the garam masala and salt and stir well.  Let it come to a boil.  Add more water if you find the dish too thick.  (this dish should be semi thick).

8.       Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot with rice, breads or Indian breads.

NOTES:

1.       You could use about an inch of ginger and 3 cloves of garlic which are finely chopped, in place of ginger garlic paste.

2.       Pl add chilli powder as per your level of pungency.

3.       I added about 3/4 cup of water.

4.       Masoor masala is served here with kulcha's (Indian Bread)

5.       The recipe that I have given here serves 3 people.