A simple, lightly spiced Indian yellow dal, streamlined so it can be ready for dinner, start to finish, in 35 minutes!
Place oil in a 3-quart pot. (2-quart will work, but it will be full.) Heat over medium-high heat. Cook onion, tomato, mustard seeds, and chili flakes for 2 minutes to bring out the flavor.
Add the lentils, water, garlic, ginger, turmeric, and salt (and green chilies if using). Turn to high and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until lentils are soft. Stir the dal to mash the lentils. Adjust salt to taste.
Serve over rice.
I measured my ingredients by weight, not volume. Your measures may be more densely packed, so add more water and simmer a little longer if the lentils don't seem cooked by the end.
You can use ground dry mustard instead of mustard seeds. Add right before adding the lentils, as it may burn otherwise. DO NOT use yellow prepared mustard.
You can find red lentils most places, but yellow lentils are harder to find. You may substitute red lentils for the yellow without problems, but it will not be quite as tasty.
You can use frozen or packaged minced ginger as long as it doesn't contain other flavor ingredients. Do not use dried ginger as the flavor is different.
Be sure your turmeric is fresh; it grows stale and flavorless quickly.
This recipe, as I've written it, is not spicy. To make it more authentically spicy, use the dried red and fresh green chilies as suggested.
Calorie count is an estimate only, and will vary. Calorie count does not include rice.
Adapted from Indian: Deliciously Authentic Dishes by Shehzad Husain and Rafi Fernandez