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