Dal tadka

Cover the lentils with three cups of water, add the turmeric and simmer covered for thirty minutes, until the grains collapse into a soft mass.

Mash some of the lentils against the side of the pot and season. The consistency should be that of a thick soup.

Separately fry the onion until golden, add the tomatoes and cook until they break down into a sauce. Stir that into the lentils.

Heat the ghee in a small pan until it is just short of smoking. Add the mustard seeds; they should crackle within seconds.

Add the cumin at once, the garlic and chillies ten seconds later, the asafoetida twenty seconds after that. The whole thing takes under a minute and cannot be left alone.

Pour the sizzling tadka straight into the lentils — it should hiss. Stir once and serve with rice or flatbread.