This dhal has good flavours from spinach, fennel seed, and coconut oil. I based it on a recipe by Rafi Fernandez, but then completely re-worked it trying to use Krish Ashok's recommendations from his "Masala Lab" book for maximum flavour!
Serves 2, with chapati and sides. Takes 25 minutes, plus 30 minutes of soaking the chana beforehand.
1 small piece of ginger, peeled (approx 1 cm3)
1 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp cumin seed
1/2 to 1 tsp aleppo pepper
2 tsp turmeric
100g fresh spinach, washed
2 tsp red lentils
1 tsp cumin seed
Juice of 1/2 a lime
Rinse the chana dhal and soak for 30 mins. Then pressure-cook them with enough hot water to cover, plus a dab of baking soda, and a dab of oil, for 20 minutes. (If you don't have a pressure-cooker: 45 minutes boiling on medium heat is probably similar.) Do some other prep (see below) while soaking/pressure-cooking.
Meanwhile, finely slice the onions, and the garlic and ginger.
Heat up a deep pan and add the coriander seed, mustard seed, cumin seed. Wait until they only-just start popping (it's OK to shake the pan while they toast), and then add a tablespoon of veg oil, plus most of the sliced onions. Keep about 1/6 of the onion back for the tarka later. After the onions have taken to the oil and started frying, add the garlic, ginger, and chilli. Cook these, stirring, until the onion is nicely softened.
By this point the chana dhal should be done. De-pressurise the pressure cooker. In the pan with the onion, add the turmeric, stir, and add the chana dhal as well as some of the cooking water to this pan. Try to hold some cooking water back - you can later add more if you think it needs it.
Add a pinch of salt, a pinch of sugar, and some more hot water if it all seems too thick. (You are aiming for a thick but pourable texture, thick enough to scoop up with flatbread.) Bring to the boil and bubble for 5 minutes.
Chop the spinach roughly and put it all into the main pan. Stir, and let it bubble for 5 more minutes while you prepare the last bit (the tarka).
Heat up a frying pan over a medium-hot heat, and add the red lentils. Shake these around as they toast, watching until they turn pink and fragrant. If you don't like big crunches, you can now take these and put them in a pestle and mortar (or spice grinder) to grind them up. But you can keep them whole, that's traditional and adds texture.
To the same hot frying pan add the coconut oil, then the remaining finely-sliced onion pieces. Shuffle them around to get them going, then also add the fennel and cumin seeds. Stir fry these - the aim is to get the onion crispy-fried, and the seeds toasty without burning.
Stir the lime juice into the dhal, then put the dhal into your serving dishes. Now sprinkle the tarka (fried things) over the top, including the dregs of the coconut oil. Sprinkle some coriander leaf over, too.