Our friendly fairtrade foodie Fiona has provided a great recipe for a toor dal which can be adapted to suit your palate and available ingredients:

A Dal is a dish made with dried legumes of all kinds. Legumes are the pea family of plants and are high in protein and fibre. Toor Dal is a particular dried legume which was first domesticated and cultivated in India over 3,500 years ago. They are known as Pigeon Peas in Africa and they are the peas in Jamaican Rice and Peas. 

This is a simple and quick recipe which needs two pans to do two styles of cooking.

The yellow Toor Dal is simmered in water with the addition of turmeric. This gives the finished dish a lovely bright colour and warm earthy flavour. The other part of the dish is sauteed in oil, or ghee (clarified butter) which keeps the spice and heat strong. The two are brought together only at the end which results in the best flavour from the two styles of cooking.  

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side dish to a vegetable or meat main dish.

• 100g Fairtrade Organic Toor Dal
• 3 cups of water
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons of oil or ghee
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 red chilies, finely chopped
• Ukuva Seaweed Salt to taste
• juice of 1 lime

1. Start by rinsing the Toor Dal in cold water a couple of times then place in a heavy based pan with the turmeric and fresh water. Place on a medium heat, bring to the boil and then simmer, covered with a lid, until really tender. 
2. The Toor Dal should be easy to crush with the back of a spoon. This might take about 20 minutes which is longer than if you wanted the Toor Dal to have a bit more bite, but this particular dal should be soft and comforting. You might need to top up with more boiling water as the pan must not dry out.
3. Meanwhile heat the oil or ghee in another pan. When it’s hot, add the mustard and cumin seeds. They will pop and sizzle so watch out for them trying to jump out. As soon as you smell the aroma, add the onion and keep on a lower heat until the onion is soft and starting to brown on the edges. Add the crushed garlic and finely chopped chillies and let them cook for another five minutes. 
4. By this time your Toor Dal should be ready. The consistency should be loose but not soup. Adjust with a splash of water if needed and add the salt and lime juice.
5. Put most of the onion mix into the Toor Dal pan and stir. Keep a spoonful or so back to place on top when you serve.  

This is the basic recipe but you can add more vegetables to the sauteed mix. Mushrooms that have fried to golden crispness are particularly good. The key is to keep the vegetable mix dry to contrast with the texture of the dal.