Buttery dal

Last night Anne and I were busy cleaning the apartment, addressing wedding invitations (we finished, huzzah!), and I didn't really have time to make anything too elaborate to eat. We realized around 8:30 that we hadn't eaten dinner and wanted something filling and quick. Voila!--enter the mighty lentil. The first recipe I blogged was my simple dal. Lentils are so versatile and nutritious, I have come up with many ways of using them in my cooking.

This variation on the above recipe is called "Buttery Dal." I use yellow lentils, and don't add the curry powder, but that's about it.  I also briefly cook the garlic, ginger, mustard seeds and cardamom pods together in some oil before adding the lentils, cloves and water.

1 cup yellow lentils, rinsed and picked over

2 tablespoons grated peeled fresh ginger (about two inches unpeeled. I

like to grate the ginger right into the saucepan to make sure I get

all the juice and ginger)

1 tablespoon crushed garlic (if you have a garlic crusher, crush the

garlic directly into the saucepan with the ginger)

4 cardamom pods

1 tablespoon mustard seeds

1 tablespoon neutral oil like canola

2 cloves

1 tablespoon earth balance vegan butter

salt/pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan and add garlic, ginger, mustard seeds and cardamom pods. Cook for a few minutes over medium high heat.

Add lentils and cloves and water to cover by about 1 inch. Cook, partially covered, at a steady simmer until the lentils are very soft, about 20-30 minutes. Stir in the earth balance right before serving, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the cloves and the cardamom pods and serve over some rice.