Reciprocal birthday presents

Uncle Clint loves cooking (and eating) Indian food. I read a bunch of good reviews of Made in India by Meera Sodha, which was the runner-up in this year's Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks on Food52, which is always a fun thing to follow. So I sent the cookbook to Uncle Clint for his birthday, and he has made a number of things he and Auntie Leener really like—so much that they sent me a copy of the same book for my birthday, with a note recommending that we try the Daily Dal. We took that advice and have already made it twice now, and everyone really likes it, including Brad, though it's a tad "mushy" for him to eat too much of it. Still, we'll take that batting average any day. I've made a list of at least a dozen other things we want to make out of the book, so we'll have plenty of experimenting to do for a while now.

Don't eat the cloves and peppercorns!

Daily Dal

Adapted from Made in India by Meera Sodha (you can also see the recipe here on her website)

Sodha recommends Kashmiri chili powder, which is a relatively mild, bright-red powder made of nothing but Indian chiles, unlike American chili powder, which is a blend of spices. She also says to add the chili powder "cautiously" the first time you make a dish, adding ¼ teaspoon at a time until you get the amount of heat you like. If you don't want to order Kashmiri chili powder, try to use something that's 100% chiles (like New Mexico chiles), not a mix like American chili powder.

225 grams (8 ounces) red lentils, picked over
2½ cups (590 grams) water
2 tablespoons neutral-flavored oil such as canola
12 peppercorns (optional)
4 cloves (optional)
1 onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
1 2½–inch (6 centimeter) piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated (a Microplane works well for this job)
½ teaspoon chili powder (see note)
½ teaspoon ground coriander
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes

    1. Rinse the lentils in a sieve until the water runs clear. Drain and put into a 2- or 3-quart saucepan with a lid. Add the water, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the lentils are cooked through but not yet falling apart. Sodha says this takes 10 to 15 minutes, but mine were ready after only about 5 minutes so start tasting early.
    2. Place the oil in a large saucier or saute pan (that has a lid) over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the peppercorns and cloves, if you're using them, and stir-fry until fragrant, about a minute. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.
    3. Add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in the chili powder, coriander, turmeric, and salt. Stir in the canned tomatoes. Cover, and adjust the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until the tomatoes have darkened and the mixture has thickened, about 8 minutes.
    4. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the lentils to the tomato mixture. This will give you a consistency like stew, which we like for eating this with naan or flatbread. If you want it soupier, add some of the water that the lentils cooked in until you get the consistency you want. Cover the pan and simmer over a gentle heat for 10 minutes.
    5. Taste and adjust the salt, chili, or consistency to your liking. Serve with naan or flatbread and some whole-milk yogurt, if desired. Don’t eat the whole cloves and peppercorns, if you used them. Serve promptly. Serves 4.