Lentils or Dal or Parippu

Masoor dal and Gram dal (Chana dal). These usually mixed into many other dishes, which is very frequent in India since a lot of people are vegetarian. They are most commonly cooked alone is Sri Lanka, where the curry is referred to as Parippu. Gram dal can also be deep-fired and sprinkled with salt and chili powder to make a nice snack (extremely good when you're watching a close cricket match, since it gives an alternative to finger nails).

Dal Curry (Parippu in Sinhala)

Ingredients: Masoor or Gram dal, onions, garlic, mustered seed, green chili, turmeric, chili powder, curry leaves, rumpa (Pandanus leaf), coconut milk and salt

Method: Wash the dal well (if you are using Gram dal soak it in water overnight). Put into a saucepan and add the chopped onions, garlic and green chili, curry leaves, pieces of rampa, mustard seed, a sprinkle of turmeric to give colour and flavour, chili powder to give that little tinkle to the taste buds and cover with water till about 1 inch above dal. Let the dal cook really well, adding water if required. Next pour the coconut milk and mix well. Do not boil for long after adding coconut milk, since the milk tends to curdle. Finally add salt to taste.

Notes:
Do not add salt till end since most types of dal or as a matter of fact the bean family or pulse family do not boil well in salty water and takes ages to boil.

Additionally some may "temper" this:

• Pour a little bit of coconut/vegitable oil to a pan. When the oil is hot add some curry leaves, rampa, mustard seeds and let it fry (watch out when the mustard seeds start to pop ;-)). Add some chopped dried red chili and onions and let it fry. Add a little bit of chili to give colour. Pour the dal curry into the hot pan and mix well (else you could pour this mix into the saucepan with the dal curry.

If you do not like the pasty dal curry, you can try adding some salt when boiling, it is a variation of cooking Parippu.