Sweet Daal

My Mom makes this daal often when she hasn't had much time to cook. My attempts all come out different than what she makes, but they're tasty anyway. The recipe listed here is the one I follow these days, but that is likely to change after a while. All daals (lentils) are good sources of protein, so this is quite healthy food.

Ingredients:

• Masoor Daal (1 cup)
• Mustard seeds (2 tsp)
• Jeera seeds (2 tsp)
• Salt (to taste)
• Red Chillies (optional) (3 big ones)
• Sugar (optional) (2 tbsp)
• Haldi powder (optional) (1 tsp)
• Dhania (optional) (1 tbsp)
• Cinnamon (optional) (1 tsp)
• Cloves (optional) (1 tsp)
• Garam masala powder (optional) (1.5 tbsp)

• Boil the masoor daal in water for about 10 minutes, till the daal swells up and becomes soft. Mash part of the daal.
• Grind the dhania, cinnamon, cloves and red chillies in a blender or spice grinder. Or, hold the red chillies in the spice mixture. Alternatively, use garam masala instead of all these. Feel free to experiment with other spices such as saunf (1 tsp), coconut shavings (1 tbsp), ginger (1 tsp) or garlic (1 small clove).
• Heat a little oil. When the oil is hot, pop the mustard seeds and brown the jeera in it.
• If using red chillies, crush them and put them in the oil. If using haldi or whole spices (as opposed to ground spices), put them also in the oil. If using ground or powdered spices, you can add those now or later after you have made the daal soupy. Add boiled masoor daal before chillies blacken.
• Add a lot of water to make the daal soupy. Add salt to taste. If using powdered spices, add them in now. Adding the spices later changes the taste, though not for the worse. Add enough sugar so that the daal is mildly sweet.
• Cook on med-high till the daal has a uniform consistency. Serve over rice. Garnish with kothmir if desired.