The anarchist cookbook: red lentil dal

I just posted this on some thread or other, and thought I'd save it here for posterity. Maybe the first in a regular feature. ;)

Red lentil dal
8oz of red lentils, rinsed, then add 1½ pints of water. Add a teaspoon of salt. And 4 cardamom seeds, if you've got them. Bring to the boil, put the lid on & simmer for 30 mins.

Then, in another pan: -
Heat up 4 tablespoons of vegetable or groundnut oil. Turn the heat down, or it will spit like fuck.
Add 1 teaspoon of mustard seeds & 1 teaspoon of cumin seeds.
When the mustard seeds start to pop, add 4 cloves of garlic, finely sliced.
When the garlic is nice & brown, add 5oz of tomato (i.e. one big tomato, or thereabouts), finely chopped, 2 teaspoons of turmeric, one teaspoon of garam masala, and one teaspoon of dried chili flakes. NB: - When you add the tomatoes to the garlic, it looks like the garlic is burning. Don't worry about this.
Stir constantly for 2-3 minutes, until the tomato has gone pulpy.

Add your lentils (which should be nice & mushy by now) to the spicy mixture, put the lid on & simmer for 5-10 minutes. If you have fresh coriander, stir in a chopped handful around now.

If you want it thinner, use 6oz lentils with the same amount of water. Any more than 8oz lentils and it's too thick & might stick to the pan.

Lovely