Trying something new

One of the great things about doing the Kitchen Belleicious recipe challenge is that every month I really try to cook something I have never tried.  Now that I've gotten my feet wet, I decided for the rest of the challenge, each month I would try to make a cuisine from a different culture.  Since I have a serious love of all things spicy, this month I decided to try my hand at Indian food.

Some of my mommy friends took me to an Indian grocery to help me shop and then gave me some guidelines on cooking Indian cuisine.  For my first attempt, I made Masoor Dal, which is a lentil dish, along with some rice and Paratha, a stuffed bread.  It was SOO good!!  My cousin and I ate almost all of it and she asked if she could take home the leftovers. :)

The best part?  It was so easy to make!

Masoor Dal

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

1/4 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp garam masala (a spice blend)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)

1 small onion, chopped

1 small tomato, chopped

Directions

1. Rinse lentils very well and place in a saucepan along with the spices.  Cover with water (about an inch over lentils) and bring to a boil.  Skim off any foam that forms on top.  Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender.  (I pretty much cooked these the same way I would rice!)

2. While lentils are cooking, saute onion and tomato in a frying pan with vegetable oil.  I added some more garam masala and cayenne pepper to my veggies to get a bit more flavor.

3. When veggies and lentils are cooked, mix together and serve!