Spiced Vegetable Dal

This is the one dish that my beloved Housemother has said is my "restaurant" worthy recipe. Our boys love this and usually lick their plates when they are done. It is taken from a cookbook titled "All Around the World Cookbook".

Spiced Vegetable Dal

1 cup red lentils (this is important. These are not brown lentils.)

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil (I use coconut oil instead.)

2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon diced garlic (or if you love garlic like our family, lots more!)

1 large onion, halved and slivered

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

pinch of ground turmeric (another pinch of saffron...if you can.)

4 cups vegetable broth (use the low sodium kind. If you would rather, use the same amount of water.)

4 ripe plum tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro (or if you are us, use as much as you can!)

salt and pepper to taste (IF you like, we don't it is yummy before this point.)

1. Saute butter and oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat with ginger, garlic and onion stirring, about 10 minutes.

2. Sprinkle in cumin, cloves and turmeric (saffron, see above), stirring another 2 minutes.

3. Stir in lentils and broth and bring to a boil.

4. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered until soft but not mushy, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5. Stir in tomatoes and cilantro, and cook another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

6. The flavors should be well-blended and the lentils very soft.

This cooks fairly quickly, so you can do it not that long before you are going to eat. Don't be like me and forget to make rice until it is too late!