Sabut Masoor (Whole Red Lentils)

Ingredients: 
1 cup masoor daal (whole red lentils)
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 teaspoon turmeric powder
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red chili powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
2 teaspoons minced garlic
6-8 glasses of water
4 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon cumin seeds

Directions: 
Wash daal. Add daal, salt, turmeric, red chili, coriander, 1 teaspoon of the minced garlic, and the water in a pot and cook on medium-high. When the water starts boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer for ~30 minutes or until the daal is tender. Note #1: cook for 5 minutes if using a pressure cooker. Note #2: there should be about 1 cup of water left after this step.

In a small frying pan, heat oil (medium heat), then add the other teaspoon of minced garlic. Stir for ~1 minute, then add the cumin seeds and cook for another minute or until the seeds start to pop. This is the tharka (for more on tharka, check out the post on khatti daal). Add the tharka to the daal, then let it all simmer together on low heat for 5 minutes.

This is what whole red lentils look like. You can find them at an Indian/Pakistani grocery store (marked as "Masoor Matki") or at a regular grocery store (marked as "Lentils"), but the Indian/Pakistani brands are superior in taste!

*The difference between sabut masoor and khatti daal is that sabut is WHOLE red lentils (will look more brown) while khatti daal is PEELED red lentils (will look more orange).