Red Lentils – Tarka Dal

INGREDIENTS
165 Gr. of Red Lentils
350 Ml of Water
1 Teaspoon Turmeric
400 Gr. can of chopped tomatoes
4 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
1 Teaspoon Yellow Mustard Seeds
1 Teaspoon Black Mustard Seeds
1 Teaspoon Cumin Seeds
1 Garlic Clove peeled and crushed
6 Curry Leaves (You can use dry leaves or like me frozen fresh leaves)
1 Dried Red Chillies (Optional) I often use 1/2 Teaspoon of Chilli flakes
1/2 Teaspoon Asafoetida

METHOD
In a heavy saucepan, bring the lentils and water to a boil. Add the turmeric and cook until the lentils are soft and the water has almost evaporated.
Mash the lentils with the back of a spoon. Add the salt and tomatoes and mix well. You may need to add some water, check for thickness. It should at this point, still quite runny.
In a frying pan, add the vegetable oil and fry the garlic and all the spices until they start to dance in the pan.
Pour the oil and spices over the lentils and cover. After 5 minutes, mix well and garnish with coriander leaves and serve.

TIP DU JOUR
Make sure your pan for frying the spices is very, very hot. Then you can pour the oil and wait until it starts to smoke.
If you have leftover, you can add 1 or 2 cups of water and make a wonderful soup the following day. Simply squeeze some lemon juice over each bowl and serve with Chapatis.