Dal Curry with Coconut Milk

Dal (Split Pigeon Peas) is the most common curry of indian cuisine and the easiest to make. Trust me, any one can make it. It does come in a lot of variety. I'll just mention the two ways i make dal. So here goes the ingredients reqd. for making dal for serving size of 2. You need a pressure cooker to make dal..

1/2 cup toor dal
1/4 cup chopped onion (1/4 of a medium sized onion chopped)
1 cup coconut milk
some mustard seeds
salt for taste
1/4 tsp turmeric pwd
3-4 dry red chillies (opt, can substitute with 1/4 chilly powder)
1-2 split green chillies (i mean the small chillies and not jalapeños) (opt)
some cumin seeds(opt)
some curry leaves(opt)

Wash the dal and put them in a pressure cooker. Add enough water to cover them and approximately 1/4 inch above them. (some people add double the quantity of water, i normally go by this measure). Pressure cook for 3 whistles, but to be safe i let 5 whistles to come, so i dont have to take my chances. Smash the dal with a potato masher or with any serving spoon. Now in another pan add a tsp of oil and splutter the mustard seeds. Add onion , chillies,cumin seeds, curry leaves and saute till onion is pale. Now add salt, turmeric pwd and chilly pwd (if u r using them instead of chillies). Add about 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil. Now add the smashed dal and stir. Add the coconut milk and bring to a boil. You have a tasty dal to go with rice or chappathi. This is one way. The other easier way is to skip out the coconut milk part. In doing so just increase the amount of dal, so that u get a thick curry. Enjoy...