Red Lentil Dal

Place 1 cup of red lentils in a metal sieve. Rinse well with cold water. Pour cleaned lentils into a medium sauce pan. Add 3 cups of water. Bring lentils and water to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Keep an eye on them bc it has a tendency to boiler over and make a big mess.

After the lentils have cooked at least 5 minutes, start preparing the onions and spices. In a medium saucepan, heat the oil/butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onions. Cook until translucent. Add ginger, garlic & diced jalapeno/serrano and cook for 1 minute more, stirring continuously, making sure that the garlic does not burn. Add the garam masala. Cook and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add bay leaf. Stir.

To the onions and spices, add the cooked lentils along with the lentil cooking water. Add tomatoes, lime juice and some salt. Cook for 10 minutes, it will start to thicken up. Adjust salt if necessary and season to taste. Stir in chopped cilantro and remove from heat. Garnish with more chopped cilantro.