Put one cup of rinsed red lentils and three cups water in a pot, bring to a boil and reduce to simmer. Stir occasionally until it becomes a paste.
dice up a small onion... and half of a red pepper... and half of a green pepper... and half of a yellow pepper... and a half cup of whatever other peppers ya got. Open a can of low-salt diced tomatoes and pour off MOST of the liquid. Crush a handful of garlic. Grate a hunk of ginger. Heat up some olive oil in the wok.
Garlic, then ginger, then onion, then peppers in the hot oil. Saute.
Add tomatoes.
Then add:
2 tsp curry powder (I like Jamaican, but everyone has a fave) 1 tsp Chili powder 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp ground coriander
stir well, add cooked lentils. Serve over basmati. If you can't find puppadums, toast some corn tortillas and use instead of eating utensils.
I worked for a year on this, finally got it right. For a while (and still sometimes) I can't remember if those are teaspoons or tablespoons and I find it doesn't matter. If you like it spicy, add 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne. If you like it veggier, add a cup of chunks of zucchini or peeled eggplant with the peppers.
I know there's something to be said for a honk of nice meat, but it really doesn't get better than Indian. I'd be fine with going veggie if it meant I could have Indian food for the rest of my life. Also, cheating and putting in chicken breast is A-OK in my book.
