Also, chopping vegetables ahead of time is not really all that much of a timesaver when making this dish. You need something to do while your rice and lentils are cooking: Chop vegetables! Especially if you store them in water overnight, they lose flavor and nutrients.

Also, someone mentioned adding something green. I make dishes like this all the time and find that kale works extremely well. It’s not authentic Indian, but it holds up well to the heat and is a beautiful dark green (not to mention extremely full of nutrients).

How much is an appropriate amount of olive oil in this case? I’m guessing that 1.5 tablespoons would be okay – not likely to be TOO inappropriate – but what do I know?

It also tastes nice to add some broth instead of water. This type of thing tastes great with Naanm which is Indian flatbread.

I also suggest making it into a soup with the left overs with a bit of broth. You can freeze as well. Lentil soup is really good.

If you are going to have dal with rice/flatbread and some vegetables on the side, you can get by with 1/4 or 1/3 cup of dal per person per meal. With flatbreads, you need lesser dal than with rice.

Like you say, you dont want the aroma of cilantro overpowering the meal, so only a few strands will be enough.

@Rangzy: Glad to see your note.

Some pointers:
- Dal and black pepper don’t go well together. .
- Cayenne Pepper rules in Indian cooking.
- We don’t use alcohol in Indian cooking.

While lots of dishes can be made with Dal, I will give you two simple recipes. Both of them are south Indian and go well with rice.

1. Sambhar

Ingredients:

Vegetables: Most vegetables are good. Reccomendations are Carrots, Potato, Green Beans, Okra, Indian Egg plant ( smaller in size than regulat Egg plant ), Radish, Zuchini, Squash etc. ( Chopped )

Use one or a combination of Vegetables from above and it gives a different taste.

Onions – 1
Tomato – 2
Sambhar Powder – 1Tbsp ( @ Indian Store )
Tamarind Paste – 1/2 Tsp (@ Indian Store )
Asafoetida – less than 1/4 Tsp.just a pinch ( @ Indian store )
Toor Dal – 3/4 of a cup ( @ Indian Store )
Turmeric Powder – 1/2 Tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:
1. Chop the vegetables and cook with Dal and water in a pressure cooker – ( 2 whistles if you have a pressure cooker if not by the method you follow ). Water should cover the Dal and vegetables.
2. Chop Tomatoes and Oninon and set aside.
3. Saute the Tomatoes and Onion in oil.
4. Add Sambhar Powder, Asafotida and mix them well.
5. Add the cooked Dal+Vegetables.
6. Add Tamarind Paste and Salt and mix.
7. Heat for a while for them to merge.

- Pressure Cooker is a good Investment to cook lot of things along with Dal. This will keep your cooking time less and save fuel.
- Sambhar Powder – This is a combination of Cayenne Pepper, Corriander Powder, Cumene etc.
- Turmeric Powder has lot of medicinal values and is reccomended for everyday cooking. Almost all Indian dishes have this in small proportion. Fights against Alzheimers.
- Curry Leaf is another ingredient which can be sauted along with Tomato and Onions. Adds flavor and has medicinal value.
- While using Daal, different Daals have different natures. Channa Daal is tastier but will cause gas if eaten in large proportion, hence not used in Sambhar.

Indian cooking is not only tasty but the food has lot of medicinal values. Eating well made Indian food keep your body and mind healthy.

There are different ways to be done the above. Cooking the Vegetables with Dal gives a different flavor with different vegetables. Also saute vegetables with Onion and Tomatoes instead of cooking with the Toor Dal and it gives a different taste.

Try some Indian Vegetables from Indian Store for Sambhar. Try with Indian Drumstick for example.

2. Daal

This is even simpler than the above and quicker. Doesn’t need vegetables or Tamarind Paste.

Onions – 1
Tomato – 2
Cayenne pepper – 1 Tsp
Toor Dal – 1 Cup
Salt – to taste
Turmeric Powder – 1/2 Tsp

Method:

1. Pressure Cook Daal.
2. Saute Onions, Tomato
3. Add Cayenne Pepper, Turmeric Powder and Salt and Mix
4. Add the cooked Daal and let it heat up for a little while as the ingredients merge.

Serve with rice.

This is much simpler and goes very well with Rice. For a side dish, eat with Spicy Chicken or Broiled Fish.

I will give you a blog of Indian cooking. Not sure if it is updated regularly, but this will give you a few ideas on both vegetarian and meat based Indian recipes. Its much easier following blogs than Indian recipe website which have too many options to get started.

http://tamilspice.blogspot.com/search/label/Lentils

Also, if you are buying Indian spices, you can go with the following and get value for your money as these can be used in all Indian dishes:

1. Cayenne Pepper
2. Turmeric Powder
3. Cumene Powder

Feel free to email me if you have questions.