Convienent Dinner No.1: Tarka Dhal

Right so, I've been thinking of doing an aul food blog for a while. Let's face it I love cooking almost as much as I enjoy eating. So here it goes.

Tarka Dhal:

Serves 8 as a starter or 5-6 as a main course with some Naan or Pita.
Prep time 5 minutes.
Cooking time 20-25 mins.


Ingredients
500g of Red Split Lentils
2 tins of chopped tomatoes, sometimes I use a bottle of Passata
2 inches of root ginger
1 whole head of garlic
1.5 large onions
2 chillies, pictured are fresno chillies but the type used depends on how spicy you want it
2 tsp of ground turmeric
2 tsp of ground coriander
2 tsp of whole cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of mustard seeds
vegetable oil
Salt to taste

Peel and roughly chop ginger, garlic, 1 large onion and chillies and place in a blender with a splash of water. Blend this to a fine puree. If it's not moving nicely enough in the blender then add another splash of water, just be careful not to too much as this mix is to be fried in oil.
Heat a couple of table spoons of vegetable oil in a larger pot or wok. Add in the mustard and cumin seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle and pop add in the pureed ingredients.
Fry this mixture for 2-3 minutes stirring regularly, until the puree darkens slightly. Now add the 2 tins of tomatoes, giving it a big oul stir so the tomatoes are evenly spread through the mixture. Lower the heat and continue to cook for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the sauce is cooking, cook the lentils as per the instruction on the packet.
Taste the sauce for seasoning and add salt as necessary. Once the lentils are cooked to your liking, add them to the sauce. Give this a good stir and cook for a 5 minutes on a low heat.

Time to EAT!

Serving suggestions:
I like to serve this dhal with a good dollop of natural yoghurt and fried onions on top normally. Sometimes I make a riata using yoghurt, mint, finely chopped onions, lime juice and garlic and have it instead of the plain yoghurt. Scooping it up with some nice warm Naan or a pita is quite tasty.