I have learned this real toor dal recipe in the house of one of my Indian friends. He and his wife are real honest to goodness Indians and this recipe is real homemade Indian cooking. Now, I have adjusted the recipe to make it less spicy and to suit my tastes better. I'll tell you how I adjusted it, so you can bring it back to its original glory. Or go with my own version, which is really good, too. What I've changed is:

1. I use less spices. I will indicate which spices have been reduced.
2. I use beef (or venison) stock. Original called for 6 cups of water. I use 2 cups of home made beef stock and 4 cups of water.
3. Original called for 1 chopped tomato. I love tomato in this soup, so I use 3 tomatoes that I de-skin first.

This is all!

Here is the recipe:

In a pressure cooker saute:

1. 1 finely chopped red onion
2. 1 tsp black mustard seeds
3. 1 tsp cumin seeds.

Meanwhile in a cup mix the following spices:

1. 2 chile de arbol (original called for 3)
2. 7 curry leaves
3. 1/3 tsp chilipowder (original called for 1 full tsp)
4. 1 tsp coriander/cumin (1:1) mix
5. 1 Tbsp garlic paste (I've started adding 1 tsp of ginger paste recently, too)
6. 1 seeded jalapeno pepper (original called for 2 serranos)
7. 1 tsp salt

Once onion is sauteed, put in the pot:

1. 4 cups of water
2. 2 cups of stock
3. 3 de-skinned tomatoes cut in quarters
4. 1 cup toor dal lentils

Dump the contents of the spices cup. Stir everything well, close pressure cooker, bring to pressure and cook for 20 minutes. Stir well again before serving.