spicy pink loooooove/ginger dal. call it what you will.

Beets + ginger + lentils = threesome that was meant to be. And oh so pretty. Beetroot dal: boil up a cup or so of red lentils, 2 beets chopped into little cubes, half a tsp tumeric and a few cloves of garlic. In a pan, drop a bit of oil and let it heat until it's really really damn hot. Add a little sprinkle of asafoetida, then a tsp or so of mustard seeds, then an extra-giant tsp of black cumin. Step back, and if/when you get brave enough to approach the pan again, add a small handful of curry leaves. When the fun subsides, add a chopped onion, and when that kinda gets coated in the whole spices add a tablespoon of ground coriander and a tsp of ground cumin. Fry on low heat, adding water as necessary (I use less than a tsp of oil for this...just to pop the seeds). When the onions are cooked through, add 2 chopped tomatoes, as much ginger as you can stand (I used about 3 heaping tbs of grated fresh ginger), and some salt. Drop the heat to low and cook until mushy. When it's mushy, add this mush to the cooked lentil mixture. Taste. Adjust salt and pepper. Add lemon or tamarind. All the heat in this comes from (some would say overly) liberal use of ginger and black pepper, but if you feel the need to be manly, add chilli. See if I care. I am secure enough in my manlyness to be able to enjoy the ginger/black pepper combo of heat here. Throw in at least half a cup of chopped fresh coriander, or a big dollop of coriander chutney. Eat over rice. I imagine it would also be damn good with potato roti, but I'm tired of potato roti, which I never thought would happen, but it did. I'm so fickle.

Spicy pink love music: Ella Sheilds