Masoor Daal

Oh my god. This is amazing. I wanted a quick, simple dish that had what I hoped to be an authentic Indian flavor. I think that's exactly what I got. The ingredients list for this one isn't very scary either. I couldn't find cumin seed, but I found a list of substitutions here. I added a teaspoon of pepper corns and a dash of ground cumin instead of the seeds for mine and it turned out fine.

I think the secret here was the teaspoon or so of garam masala that I added. Garam masala is a popular Indian spice mix that can be found in most ethnic grocery stores and even some of the larger chain stores as well. There was a bit of worry since I had my bag of lentils for at least two years now, but they tasted fine. It finished it off anyways, so I can buy more knowing I'll actually use them. Next time, I'll half the cayenne because this was pretty spicy for my taste. Use extra rice to tone it down if you must, but try this recipe. So worth it.



Also, if you're in the Fort Collins, Colorado area and want Indian, try Taj Mahal in the downtown area. So good. I had the chicken tikka masala and he had the spicy chicken vindaloo. With a side of butter naan and a cardamom spiced iced tea, we made ourselves sick on it. Completely worth it, but ouch.