Spice up your day with dal

Sometimes inspiration comes from a place or a smell or even from a cookbook.

And, sometimes, it just hits you in the head.

Such is the case with this recipe. It's a basic dal, but I added a bit of a kick to it with tomatoes and garlic...kind of an Italian dal.

The inspiration came when I was reaching up (I'm pretty short...even things on the second shelf are a stretch for me...and this was on the third shelf) into a cabinet to get some ginger. Of course, I knocked something besides the ginger off the shelf...a bag of yellow split peas. It bounced off my head and onto the counter. Too lazy to put it back up, I decided to make something with it.

Dal (sometimes spelled daal) is the Indian word for lentils, but it has also come to mean the stews and chowder-like dishes that are often made from the lentils. 

Lentils are a great source of protein and iron. You can mix this recipe or any lentil dish with rice for all the protein you need in a day.

Spicy Yellow Lentil Dal

1 cup of yellow split peas

3 cups of water

1/4 teaspoon of ground turmeric

1 tablespoon of grated ginger

2 tablespoons of oil (I like olive. Traditionally, it's coconut oil that's used)

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

2 teaspoon of ground coriander 

red pepper flakes, to taste

2 - 6 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup of chopped tomatoes

salt to taste

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

• Bring the peas, the water, the turmeric, and the ginger to a boil.  Turn the heat down and simmer until the peas are tender (15 minutes or so).  Add more water if needed.  At this point it should be the consistancy of a thick chowder.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a skillet and add the garlic and saute it for about a minutes.  Add the ground seasonings, the tomatoes and the salt.  Simmer for about 10 minutes. 
• Add the beautifully fragrant mixture from the skillet and the cilantro to the split peas.  Taste and adjust seasonings.

Vegan.