one medium onion, chopped small
one medium tomato, chopped small
3-5 garlic cloves (per your taste), minced
bit of ginger, minced
2-4 green chillies (optional), minced
1 tsp haldi
1 tsp jeera powder
1 tsp dhania powder
salt to taste
one kholi daal of your choice
water (3x water for thick split daal, 4x water for whole daal or watery split daal)
in a heavy pot with a lid, heat a small amount of olive oil or ghio on med-high heat. when it's hot, add the onion, garlic, and ginger, and cook until the onions start to turn reddish brown. then add tomatoes and chillies, and cook until the water cooks out of the tomatoes. add the masalas and mix well, cook for a minute or two. add water first, mixing the tadka into the water, then add daal. bring it to a boil on high heat, then reduce heat to medium and cover (if you don't have a lid, you can use a steel or sarbloh plate). cook whole daal for 45 minutes to one hour. split daal cook for 20-30 minutes. cooking times can vary, so just taste it to see if it's done to your liking.
with whole daal you can soak them for a few hours ahead of time for more even cooking.
