Indian Cabbage With Peas, Red Lentil Dal, Spiced Rice

I made cabbage with peas, red lentil dal (masoor dal), and spiced rice. The cabbage with peas came out great (next time I will use less salt, just my personal preference). The recipe called for asofetida, which I don't have, so I substituted with a dash each of garlic powder and onion powder. I also didn't have green chilies so my cabbage did not come out spicy-hot. The red lentil dal was creamy and mild and complemented the cabbage dish very nicely. The recipe calls for red lentils but mine were split red lentils, so they only took about 15 minutes to cook and not 40. For the spiced rice I made white rice as usual (with regular long grain rice because I didn't have basmati) but I spiced it with cumin seeds, cardamom, and bay leaf. I would have liked to add cloves but didn't have any. Next time I will toast the spices in oil prior to adding the rice.

Spiced Rice
Prepare long-grain or basmati rice as directed on the rice package. Prior to boiling the rice or turning the rice cooker on, add the spices and mix into the rice and water. For every cup of white rice you use, add:
1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
3 pods of green cardamom
two bay leaves
dash of salt

Do you like Indian food? What kind of curries do you like?


Vegan on a Shoestring