2018 RECIPE EIGHT: Monday January 29th - masoor dal (spiced red lentils)

BACK STORY:
Well, another cold night, another adventure with lentils. Since I left the leftovers at Steph and Pat's house last night, I decided to make another lentil dish to eat the naan I had bought to accompany the soup. I had all these ingredients but the chilis on hand, AND it didn't call for coconut milk like this recipe usually does, so I decided to try it. (Also, side-note: the 21-Day Fix is getting me to try all sorts of new recipes. It was already March 22nd by the time I hit the 8th new recipe of the year in 2017. I'm over 50 days faster this year!)

NOTES:
This calls for red lentils and sweet potatoes simmered together for a while, which is easy to do when you're working from home after a doctor's appointment. I mostly followed the instructions except as aforementioned I didn't have a chili, so threw in some red chili powder AND red pepper flakes - hopefully I didn't make it too spicy. I also decided to blend part of the soup at the end to get a creamier texture - I aimed for most of the big sweet potato blobs to even that out too. Even though I like a chunky soup, I thought this one would benefit from chowder-izing. 

STARS: 
4 out of 5. These notes are literally the same as last recipe's: Creamy and delicious and hearty and easy to make. 

RECIPE:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/7517-masoor-dal-spiced-red-lentils

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 ½ cups (10 ounces, about 1 medium) finely diced sweet potato
• 1 tablespoon minced ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Thai or bird's-eye red chili
• 1 cup red lentils
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 cup canned chopped tomatoes
•  Salt
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
•  Pieces of coconut flesh from a fresh coconut (optional)

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PREPARATION

1. In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, heat oil, and sauté onion until softened. Add sweet potato, and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add minced ginger and garlic; stir, and reduce heat to low.
2. Finely dice chili, keeping seeds if you wish to add more heat. Add chili, lentils, coriander, cumin, turmeric and ground ginger to pan. Stir until lentils are well coated with oil. Add tomatoes and 4 cups water. Raise heat to bring to a boil, then reduce heat until mixture is at a fast simmer. Cook uncovered until lentils and potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes.
3. Season to taste with salt, and continue to simmer until mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes. Whisk dal to amalgamate lentils and sweet potatoes. If dal is too soupy, increase heat and cook for a little longer.
4. To serve, place dal in a serving bowl and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. If desired, shave thin strips of fresh coconut on top. Serve hot.