Whole Lentils Dal

In an attempt to try different type of lentils, I grabbed few pounds of whole lentils from the bulk aisle in my grocery store. It was lying in my pantry for a while and I was planning to make some pilaf kind of dish with the lentils. It lay there for weeks and finally, the lentils made their way into an Indianized dal. I made a few tweeks my adding some garam masala and it resulted in a really yummy dal which tasted great with plain basmati rice and even aloo parathas. this has become a staple in my house now. You should really try these next time you have whole lentils at home!!
Ingredients
Whole lentils - 2/3 cup (soaked for one hour - optional) It turns great even without soaking
Onion - 1 small sized
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Garam masala - 1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon
Green chillies - 2 slit lengthwise
Ginger garlic paste - 1/2 teaspoon
Coconut milk / plain milk - 1/2 cup
Oil/ghee - 1 spoon
Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon
Urad dal - 1 teaspoon
Asafoetida / Hing - 1 pinch
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Salt to taste

Directions
Wash the dal and soak it for an hour if soaking. Pressure cook the dal along with roughly chopped onions, tomatoes, green chillies, ginger garlic paste, garam masala, turmeric powder and enough water. Pressur cook for 3 to 4 whistles.

When the pressure goes off, mash the dal adding the coconut milk. Season with salt.

Finally do the tempering with oil/ghee, mustard seeds, urad dal, asafoetida and curry leaves and pour it over the cooked dal.

Serve warm over some rice or along with some parathas/chaptis/rotis.
Sending this to Healing Foods- Onion started by Siri and hosted this month by Priya;
Also to Think Spice-Think Garam Masala started by Sunita and hosted this month by Sara's Corner