LOOK AT ME, I'M ETHNIC!!! 3 Lentil Daal

Awkward fact about me, whenever I hear the name of famous children's book author Roald Dahl, I have to quietly pat up my drool because his name is a homophone for the fragrant, spicy lentil dish daal native to India. Yeah, I'm a sucker for Indian food-on the last day of school while most people went to pool parties and cookouts, my friends and I wandered into an all-you-can-eat buffet at local Indian joint, Cafe Taj. I mean, $10 a person for fancy plates piled high with your favorite rice, pokoras, and assorted goop?! HOW COULD WE SAY NO?! So when my mom suggested that I make daal for dinner one night, I was like, "YES PLEASE!"
Now, a warning-this stuff takes FOREVER to make, like over an hour. You should really be in the kitchen for the whole process as the fire department sorta-kinda suggests that you don't leave stoves unattended but if you have a fully charged iPhone (or a Droid or a Samsung Ikea Illuminate or whatever, I really don't care) and some friends ready to keep you virtual company, you're good to go! Personally, I used my extra time to add more hashtags to my Instagram (FOLLOW ME- @romaare) to get more likes cuz I'm an attention wh-erm-lover.
So, without further  ado, here is the recipe to some amazing homemade daal of not one, not two, but THREE lentils!

The final smush!

-serves 6 hungry, HUNRGY people-

You will need the following: 
1/2 cup green lentils
1/2 cup brown lentils
3 cups water
salt (to taste)
1/2 cup red lentils
2 tbsp canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, minced
3-4 tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 scant tbs hot or mild curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cayanne
1 (15 ounce) can crushed tomatoes

The Procedure
Soak the green and brown lentils in separate bowls of hot water for 45min (seriously, don't skip this step)
Drain the GREEN lentils and place in sauce pan with the 3c water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10minutes
Drain the BROWN lentils and add to the simmering green lentils with a little bit of salt. Simmer partially covered for 20min, stirring occasionally. Add RED lentils and simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens and the lentils become very soft.

Just after adding the raw red lentils

a rainbow of mouth tingles!

I found it necessary to add extra water at some points to keep the lentils from burning and drying out. This process should take about 25 minutes but make sure you keep checking!
In a large skillet (I prefer cast iron), heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cover, cook until soft for about 10 minutes, but keep checking and stirring! If you leave them unattended, they'll probably burn to the bottom of your pan.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds)
Add the spices and tomatoes and stir constantly for about 1 minute.

These are spices. You're welcome.

Add the tomato mixture to the lentils and stir to mix well. Cook together another 10 minutes until all the flavors are incorperated. Taste for salt-I found that I needed to grind in quite a bit more salt and a dash of pepper to make the flavors really stand out. Serve immediately over rice or plain.

Happy Eating!!! xoxo