Varan Toor Daal

Toor daal is probably the most comforting comfort food.  Add curry leaves and ginger, and you capture my heart.  Add this to last night's leftovers, and you can no longer call them leftovers.  They are now the Continuation of yesterday's art.
This time, cucumber came to play.  I never thought of cooking cucumber, but it comes out nicely and gives the dal a different spin.
Je oualide.
Adapted from ShowMetheCurry
Serves 6 as a side
Ingredients
1 cup toor daal, rinsed until water is clear and soaked 15 min
3-4 cups water or whey
1 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp cracked fenugreek seeds
1 slit green chili
1/2 onion, sliced
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Seasoning:
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp asofetida (hing)
1 sprig curry leaves
5 cloves garlic, grated
1 diced tomato
1/2 cup diced cucumber
Directions
1.  Cook the daal in 3 cups water or whey witht the onions, garlic, chili, and fenugreek. I did it on the stove top, but it works well in a pressure cooker for 2 whistles.  Stovetop I let it cook for 45 minutes, checking for doneness.  The daal should be bite tender, not mushy.
2.  Make the seasoning.  In a wok, heat the oil, then add the cumin.  When it crackles, and the turmeric and hing.  It should fizz.
3.  Add the curry leaves and garlic.  When the garlic starts to color, add the tomatoes and cucumber.  Cook until tomatoes become mushy.
4.  Add the seasoning to the daal.  Add more water if needed, and bring to a boil.  Add lemon juice, then taste and add salt if needed.  Add chili powder if you want it spicier.  I added it to my plate because I wasn't sure how much my guests could handle.

Serve garnished with cilantro, which I forgot, but will not be forgetting for the continuation tomorrow.
I made rotis for the mega saturday night thali of palak paneer, sabut masala chicken, this lovely varan daal, and jeera rice, but my photo did not come out.