Here is what I had available to me:
1 cup leftover white rice, cooked Latin-style with sauteed onions and salt
Partial bag of dried red lentils - about 1/2 cup or so
Turmeric powder
Garam Masala spice blend
2 small cloves of garlic
1 inch of fresh ginger
1/3 qt of vegetable or chicken stock
Baby spinach, prewashed
Fresh cilantro
Salt and Pepper
I was desperate for time, so I rinsed the lentils (ideally you should sort them as well, although at that particular moment I can't confirm I did that), and started some oil in a pot. While it was heating, I prepped the garlic and ginger. I think I cut off the ginger peel for speed, but normally, I like to peel ginger with a spoon, so I don't waste as much as I do with a peeler or knife. If you have old, shriveled ginger, the spoon won't work. Cut the ginger as you like it- for a small amount, you can smash it with the side if the knife just like garlic, and then chop or mince from there. For garlic, I used the classic smash-peel-chop technique. I added them to the pot together, and a soon as they became nice and fragrant, but before they burned, I added the spices. Now this is also based on how you like it, but if you are new to curry, keep this general rule in mind: use just a small amount of garam masala - too much overpowers the dish- and don't go overboard with the turmeric either. It is very mild tasting until you put too much, and then it just doesn't taste very good. For such a small batch of lentils, I used about 2 or 3 tsps of curry, 1 tsp of turmeric, and 1/2 tsp of garam masala. Stir the spices into the pot, and fry for a minute, until fragrant. Add the lentils and broth or water. Usually you want the water to be about 2 or 3 times as much as the lentils, depending on how thin you like it. You can always add more liquid, but if it's cold, it will slow down the cooking time. It's better to add more water and just cook it off. However, a 2:1 ratio should be adequate for red lentils. Bring the pot to a boil, and then lower the flame, allowing it to simmer for about 15 minutes. If you like your lentils spicy, you can add cayenne or red chili flakes while cooking, or just in your bowl.
While the lentils are cooking, rinse and chop cilantro, and if you want, chop or tear the pre-washed spinach. I usually keep the spinach whole. The more you increase the surface area of the food, the more nutrient loss there is from the processing. I only coarsely chop the cilantro, but do it to your liking. Dill is also delicious in this recipe, if you are not a cilantro fan, or have one of those massive bunches of dill from the store you are trying to use up. When the lentils are completely soft, you can turn off the flame, toss in the spinach and cilantro, and stir well. Salt and pepper to taste, and serve with rice or bread.
A note on the greens: The more you use, the better the nutrition content. Spinach cooks down quite a bit, so I usually add what looks like way too much, about 3 or 4 cups, and by the time it wilts, it looks very reasonable in the pot. Cilantro is one of the best detoxifying herbs, being very high in chlorophyll. Plus, the more greens you add, the more alkalinizing the recipe becomes. I use about 1/2-1 cup of chopped cilantro or dill.
Here is a nutritional analysis for the recipe. My favorite thing about www.nutritiondata.com is that it gives an anti-inflammatory rating as well as a glycemic load number. It doesn't account for the spices, which are anti-inflammatory, but this recipe still has a great score. Check it out! http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/recipe/1304568/2?quantity=4.0&nc=1&autosave=form.info.autosave
