Simple Dal

I added tomatoes to the recipe from my cookbook -- I think it makes the whole dish a little bit warmer, and I like the little bit of acidity/sweetness that it adds to the starchiness of the lentils.  But, the change isn't enormous and it is good with and without tomatoes.  When we made it, the recipe said to add the tomatoes first, but I don't think that adds anything and then the whole recipe takes a lot longer (since you can't let the lentils cook while you make the tomatoes).


Ingredients:
1 cup split yellow peas or arhar dal
2 1/2  cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 Tb ghee or oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
pinch of asafetida
1/4 tsp red chili powder
Optional:
1 Tb ghee or oil
3-4 tomatoes
1-3 green chili peppers


Wash dal and soak for an hour or more in warm water (if I remember, in the morning I put it in water to soak in the fridge while I'm at work).

Drain, add to saucepan and add water, salt and turmeric.  Bring to a boil and then turn heat down, cover and simmer for an hour, stirring a few times (the recipe says to cook for 40-45 min, but I cooked for longer when I only soak the beans for an hour, shorter when all day--I think that the longer you cook, the thicker this will be -- instructions are to remove when "dal is tender and has mixed well with water").

Optional:
Meanwhile, chop the tomatoes in a food processor.  Heat the ghee or oil and saute the chili peppers for a minute.  Add the tomatoes and saute until the tomatoes are very soft.  Add this mixture to the almost-done dal.

Heat ghee or oil in a small frying pan.  Add cumin seeds and asafetida.  When the cumin seeds start to pop or are toasted brown, add red chili powder and turn off the heat immediately.  Shake the pan to distribute the chili powder and then pour over the dal and stir.