This is a wonderful recipe that tastes fantastic. It goes with pretty much any side dish. The coconut milk adds a mildness and sweetness and the chilies add a bit of heat. I adjust the heat according to my liking and you should adjust it as per your fondness of heat.

Taken from: Madhur Jaffrey’s book, A Taste of India.

Serves : 6

Ingredients:
7 oz/200 g/ 1 cup skinned toovar dal or yellow split peas
1/8 tsp ground turmeric
1 tbs/ 15 ml peeled and very finely chopped shallots
1 tsp/ 5 ml ground cumin seeds
3-4 whole fresh, hot green chillies, slit down their middles
4 tbs/ 60 ml vegetable oil or 2 tbs/30 ml coconut oil and 2 tbs/ 30 ml ghee
1/2 tsp/ 2.5 ml whole black mustard seeds
10-12 fresh or dried curry leaves
1-2 whole, hot, dried red chillies broken up into 2-4 pieces each
2 tbs/ 30 ml peeled and finely sliced shallots
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
5 oz/ 150 g, 1 medium-sized tomato, chopped
3/4 – 1 tsp/ 4-5 ml salt
1/2 pint/ 300 ml / 1 1/4 cups, tinned or fresh, unsweetened coconut milk.

Method:
Place washed dal in a pressure cooker with sufficient water, chopped shallots, green chilies, turmeric and ground cumin and pressure cook it till it is a thick consistency, similar to soup. If it is too thick add some water to thin it out. Adjust the chilies to your heat level, as well as, per to your taste.
Heat the oil in a small frying pan over a medium flame. When hot, put in the mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds begin to pop, (this takes just a few seconds), put in the curry leaves and the red chillies. When the red chillies darken (this happens almost immediately), put in all the sliced shallots and garlic. Stir and fry until the shallots turn a reddish-brown colour. Now add the tomato pieces. Stir and fry until they soften.
Pour the entire contents of the small frying pan into the dal. Add the salt and mix. Add the coconut milk and stir it in.