What's for Dinner? Rice and Dal

A dal is any puree or souplike dish of spiced lentils, whether thin or thick, hot or mild. There are many variations. This one is from The Vegetarian Epicure Book Two, by Anna Thomas, Alfred A. Knopf, 1979. I think it's incredibly tasty. Thank you, India, and Anna Thomas!

Ingredients

1 cup lentils
1 qt. water
1 tsp. salt (it seemed too salty; next time I will start with 1/2 tsp.)
2 tbsp. peeled and grated fresh ginger (or 1 to 2 tsp. ground ginger)
1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
crushed seeds from 4 cardamom pods (I used 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (or to taste)
2 1/2 tsp. butter (I used a bit of olive oil)
1/2 tsp. dried red pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
lemon juice

Directions

Rinse the lentils and combine them in a medium-sized saucepan with the water and salt. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for one hour (I found that 40 minutes was enough), skimming off the top as needed. Add the grated ginger, turmeric, crushed cardamom seeds, and cayenne pepper and continue simmering until the lentils are perfectly tender. Add more water if the mixture gets too thick--it should have the consistency of a thick soup or thin gravy.

Melt the butter in a small skillet and saute the crushed red pepper and cumin in it for a few minutes (I dispensed with this step, throwing these ingredients in with the rest), along with the fresh coriander leaves and a little lemon juice

Serve the dal hot with curries and rice.

Rice

I used one cup of brown rice in 2 1/2 cups of water, and added 1/4 chopped onion and some broth powder. I prepared this at the same time as the lentils--it took about 40 minutes, also.