Dal

Lentils has always been something that I knew about, but never wholly embraced. After a camping trip where a friend whipped up a simple yet sumptuous meal of dal and rice, I was hooked.
Prepare:
-Get 1 cup dried lentils and soak for 1-10hrs in 3 cups water (I used a 'soup mix' that had lentils, split green peas, beans and other pulses and it was great)-Chop up an onion, some zucchini, and 1 medium-heat pepper
-Crush 3-8 cloves garlicCook:
-In a large pot, lightly fry onion and half the garlic in olive oil
-After a couple minutes, add the zucchini-Once onion starts to become tender, add the lentils with the water they were soaking in (alternatively, you can drain them and add fresh water/stock... I used the same water and added stock powder)-Add the rest of the garlic, pepper, and other seasonings that you want (I used hot pepper powder)
-Bring to boil and then lower heat to low and cook for about an hour, stirring every 10-15 minutes-Garnish with fresh spring onion or cilantro
Tips:
-This hearty and delicious food could be eaten as a main meal or as a side dish. I ate mine with some roasted chicken.
-Adding cumin, turmeric, and other Indian spices would give it more of an Indian-feel. Other good things to add would be ginger, coriander, cilantro, Moroccan seasoning, curry powder, etc.
-Broccoli or cauliflower would definitely go well with this

Khichdi

At the farmer's market this weekend I bought a punnet of mung beans on some whim. I don't know why, as I'd never had them before, but thought that I'd seen some interesting recipes that call for mung beans and would give a try. I did some googling and stumbled onto this, poorly arranged, page with lots of interesting recipes, and I opted for Khichari (aka Khichdi). I thought it was very tasty and interesting, though pretty bland. Looking over the article in wikipedia, suddenly it makes sense: it's the first food babies get and it's given to recovering patients! If only I'd known, I'd have changed it even more than I did. Oh well, for next time.
Prepare:
-Ready a cup of mung beans... I think you're supposed to peel them ahead of time, though I didn't. To do that, just soak them in some water for a while, I think-Chop up some cauliflower, carrot, tomato, onion, green onion leaf, and some hot pepper (this is what I was lacking!)-Ready spices: 1 tbsp fresh ginger, 1-2cloves crushed garlic, 1tsp turmeric, 1 tbsp cumin, 1tsp coriander powder/seeds and salt and pepper (I used crushed black and Korean red pepper powder)
-Measure out 1 cup long grain rice
Cook:
-Heat beans in a pot with 5 cups of water until soft, around 5 minutes-Add vegetables (except onions) and rice, bring to boil and lower heat to med-low
-Check when rice is soft (around 15 - 20 min, for me)-Once rice is fairly soft, in a large wok on medium heat, lightly roast onion in 2 tbsp butter/ghee for 2 minutes, and then add coriander, ginger, and garlic-Once onion is soft/translucent, add the pot of rice and vegetables into the wok-Mix in, adding cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, and green onionTips:
-Well this was definitely bland, I needed to add way too much salt and pepper afterwards but that's okay, because I know I have to fix it for next time. The recipe didn't even call for garlic or onion but I had to add it in. In the future, I will use at least 2 chili peppers in the pot, as well as one in the wok, and up the cumin. I also may consider using a half stock/half water mix for the rice
-The recipe called for adding the vegetables 10 minutes before the rice, but this just made them so reduced that they were nonexistent, so I changed it to be with the rice. If you like vegetables more or less raw, then adjust accordingly. Other vegetables that would probably work well: broccoli, zucchini, and some kind of bean added at the end (chickpeas, for instance)
-Eat with na'an, papadums, or other flat bread

Sweet Potato and Pea Tomato-Curry

This recipe was on the same page as the Spicy Chickpea recipe from before. I liked that other recipe so much, I figured I'd give this one a try.
Prepare:
-Chop up a bunch of sweet potato - around 2 cups worth
-Defrost/peel about 1/2-1 cup of peas
-Slice 2 medium onions
-Peel and crush 4 cloves of garlic-Dice 1 or 2 hot peppers
-Prepare 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp freshly grated ginger, 1 tsp chili powder, 500ml stock/water, salt, 3 tbsp tomato paste
Cook:
-In a large saucepan/wok, fry 2 cloves of garlic, onion, and sweet potato in olive oil for about 15 minutes (on low-med heat)-Once onion is tender, add spices and the rest of the garlic, fry for 1-2 minutes-Add stock/water, tomato paste, and bring up heat
-Once boiling, turn down heat to low and let simmer for 10 minutes-Add peas and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until peas are cooked-Sprinkle some fresh cilantro, salt, cracked black pepper and enjoy
Tips:
-This works well with some naan or Lebanese bread. Also, some couscous or rice or lentils on the side would have worked but I didn't attempt any
-Some cheese would have worked well, I think, but am not sure about "Indian-style" cheeses
-This would work as well with regular potato if that's what you had lying around

Spicy Pumpkin, Cauliflower, Chickpea with Rice

I found this recipe in our local Brisbane magazine. It looked delicious, healthy, and pretty easy and so I gave it a whirl. It called for couscous, which I didn't have, so I used medium-grain rice instead.
Prepare:
-Cook 1-1.5 cups of rice
-Dice pumpkin, onion, hot pepper, and cauliflower into small chunks-Crush a couple cloves of garlic
-Drain 1 can of chickpeas
-Prepare spices and herbs: cumin, curry powder, basil, parsley
Cook:
-In a wok on medium heat, lightly fry garlic in (olive) oil
-Throw in onion, cauliflower, and pumpkin and cook for about 10 minutes-Add spicy pepper and cook for about 5-1o more minutes, or until veggies are tender (stick a fork in a piece of pumpkin and if it comes out easily, then it's ready)-Add chickpeas, 1/2-1 tsp cumin and curry powder, as well as salt, pepper, etc.-Cook through for about 5 minutes or until chickpeas are fully heated and semi-cooked
-Mix in rice, once stirred through, rice should acquire brown quality
-Serve with a bit of olive oil and some fresh, chopped basil and parsley (I didn't have fresh so I used dried, unfortunately)Tips:
-Zucchini would go great in this (in fact, that's what the recipe called for), I would add it in with the peppers. Broccoli would be good, too.
-I didn't have any curry powder, so I used extra cumin, some pico de gallo and