Dal

Yet another fabulous recipe from Passionate Vegetarian! Thank you Crescent Dragonwagon!

Indian food is a culinary roller coaster of joy. To date, I have not had a dish that don't I love. The spices are rich in flavor, exotic and yet, familiar. Familiar of course if you are given to trying new things. Indian is not in any way similar to typical North American cuisine.
If you are looking to start a culinary adventure, dal is a good place to begin. Throughout the Indian subcontinent, a meal is not a meal without dal-a thick, spicy bean stew served over rice.
This is not spicy, but is packed with spices. When cooking this dish, your kitchen will omit smells that are as fragrant as perfume.
I love it, and I think anyone that wants to try new things, will love it too.
One problem you may encounter when making this, is the daunting ingredient list. This is the way I look at it, once you make the initial investment, you are open to cooking hundreds of things you would not otherwise make. All the spices called for here are almost always called for when cooking Indian food. I think, once all these ingredients are in your pantry, you will find yourself looking for recipes that calls for these.
Good Luck.

Dal

5-6 Cups water
2 Cups lentils
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
11/2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 1/2 teaspoons ground tumeric
Pinch of cyenne, or to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2-3 cups hot cooked rice

I served with whole wheat tortilla. Put in a 200 degree oven for about 10 min.