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One of the first dishes I made that I was really happy with was from a red lentil pilau recipe that I discovered a couple of years ago.  I cooked this a few times for Leslie back in Auburn Hills, and choose to bring it as a side-dish when Twinkle hosted Thanksgiving last year.  Last night I made it again for the first time in a year, and was quickly reminded why I love it so much: the ingredients are inexpensive, preparation is straight-forward, you can let it cook essentially unattended, and it re-heats extremely well for an easy lunch the next day.  Also, it’s delicious.  Here’s the recipe, slightly modified based on my own experiences:

Ingredients

• 3 tsp Garam masala (you can find this spice mix at Indian grocers and sometimes at larger grocery chains)
• 3 tbsp virgin olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, chopped into 1/4″ pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1 cup red lentils
• 3 cups hot vegetable stock
• 1 or 2 spring onions, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat in a large saucepan (it will need to hold all of the rice, lentils, onions, and stock).
2. Stir the garam masala into the oil.
3. Add onions and garlic.  Cook over medium until the onions soften (about 3 minutes).
4. Stir in the rice and lentils and cook (stirring constantly) for 2 minutes.
5. Slowly stir in the vegetable stock.
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the rice is cooked and all of the stock has been absorbed (about 30-40 minutes).
7. Move the mixture to a serving dish and fluff the rice with a fork.  Garnish with spring onion and serve!

After much nudging from Twinkle, I finally applied for a passport last week.  The post office said to expect it in 6 weeks, but it arrived today.  The photo’s pretty horrid, but not as bad as one of my friend’s–his passport makes him look like Mr. Potato head.  So hurray!  I’m trying to plan a trip to Melbourne to visit Twinkle sometime in January.  Airfare isn’t nearly as bad after the holidays are over, though I’d dearly like to see her for New Years.  In the meantime, I’m putting the finishing touches on a care package of essentials she can’t seem to find there, including good coffee and Q-tips.  Go figure.

Last night I tried my hand at cooking Masoor Dal.  I couldn’t find any fresh Coriander so I used the dried spice instead, and my knowledge regarding mangoes seems woefully inadequate–maybe I just got the wrong variety, but the flavor didn’t work in the dish at all.  It was still edible, but nothing special.  I’ll have to try it again after hitting the Indian grocer on 9th.  This was my first try cooking with ghee, however, and that was amazing… Twinkle’s a big fan of buttery richness in her food, and I think she’ll really like replacing the butter with ghee for added richness in some dishes.  Speaking of, I snagged a lovely Indian cookbook at the bookstore for $3, Rice, Spice, and All Things Nice.  I think it’s time to go look through it for dinner ideas!