I’ve been eating a lot of daal lately. It’s so easy, so good, and I always feel like I deserve an A on my daily vegetarian report card when it’s on the menu. This daal is nice and gingery, with coconut milk, mustard seeds, dried mango, and just a hint of heat.

I used a funny kind of daal I’ve never tried before that I found at Superstore. They look like little miniature kidney beans, but brown, and they don’t cook down into a creamy mush like most daals. Instead they hold their shape, even after simmering for hours. They’re rather defiant.

Gingery Coconut Daal

2½ cups pre-cooked daal

2 tbsp ghee
1 onion, minced
3 tbsp garlic-ginger paste (minced equal parts garlic & ginger)
2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds

1 can coconut milk
¼ cup minced mango
1 indian bay leaf

Heat the ghee over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed medium sauce pot. Sauté the onion and ginger-garlic paste until soft and fragrant. Add the mustard and cumin and cook another 2 minutes.

Add the ghee, coconut milk, mango, bay leaf, and enough water to cover. Simmer for an hour, until nicely reduced. Taste and season as needed. Serve with rice.