Instructions

• Soak the lentils in water for at the least 5 h. Shorter soaking time causes cooking time to go up. Overnight soaking is also fine
• Weigh all the spices and grind the cardomom seeds (after peeling them first). Place the mustard seeds, the cumin seeds and the cinnamon stick together
• Place the ground cardomom and turmeric together
• Grate the ginger, and mince the garlic and keep them together
• Take the seeds out from the red peppers and finely slice the peppers
• Boil hot water, place the tomatoes in a bowl and pour the hot water over them. After 2 minutes replace by cold water. After a while peel and then cut the tomatoes
• Dice the onion
• Place the soaked lentils in a pan with some water. Add the salt. Bring them to a boil and cook them for 20-30 min
• Place the oil in another pan and heat up with medium fire
• Add the mustard and cumin seeds and cinnamon stick and wait until the musterd seeds start to pop (1-2 minutes)
• Then add the chilli peppers, the onion, the ginger and the garlic and cook for about 10 min, until the onions are tender. First high fire, later at low fire
• Add the ground turmeric and cardomom seeds and the diced tomato. Wait until the tomato falls apart (5 min). Take the cinnamon stick out and discard
• Check the lentils for done-ness. if there is surplus water, remove this with a siff. Add the lentils to the pan with the spices and cooked vegetables and stir. A thick slightly fluid appearance is what you should aim for 
• Just before serving,  add the cream or crème fraiche to the dish and garnish with coriander leaves or offer the latter separately.