Coconut Red Lentil Dal

Reaching the summit at 18,000 feet!

I have a complicated relationship with dal that I mentioned in one of my first posts. It's literally the only thing they serve at the tea houses in the Himalayas so Carolyn and I got our fair share when we hiked the Annapurna Circuit many moons ago. It's a delicious dish but the higher you hike, the grosser the dal gets. Picture hiking uphill for 10 hours and then being served a watered down lentil gruel with sandy rice. It's no wonder we spent $10 a pop for Snickers bars up there!

Anyways, I'm now once again a big fan of dal. It's cheap, healthy, flavorful and it's a great place to experiment with Sriracha art.

http://food52.com/recipes/25419-a-simple-homey-coconut-y-red-lentil-dal

I was out of curry leaves so I added some ginger with the second round of chopped onions to get some added flavor. Chilis and cilantro are also good additions. It takes a bit of time to make good dal but it's worth it for the added depth.

Dal at a lower altitude!