If I were to describe our band in food terms, I would just shove a spoonful of this soup down your throat.

Here's the recipe. It's for vegetarian fans of Indian cuisine, and anybody else who likes their food spicy. It's absolutely delicious, easy, and incredibly healthy. Enjoy!

Arhar Daal (soup)
recipe by Kurma Dasa (used frequently by OFFICE)

Ingredients:
8 cups of water
1 1/2 cups toor daal
1 1/2 tsp salt
5 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tsp fresh ?nely minced ginger root
1 tsp fresh ?nely minced chilies or red chili paste
1 tsp tumeric powder
4 bay leaves
1 tbsp ghee

2 tsp black mustard seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek powder
1/4 tsp asafoetida powder (hing)
4 tsp honey
3 tbsp ghee (clari?ed butter)

Method:

Cooking the Daal:
Sift & wash the daal thoroughly. Soak the daal overnight for a creamier soup.
Bring water and daal to a boil, add the salt, lemon juice, ginger, chilies, tumeric,
bay leaves, and 1 tbsp of ghee.

Cover and simmer for at least one hour, periodically stirring the soup.
Remove the bay leaves from the soup. Whisk the soup vigorously to break up the daal.

Frying the spices- the chaunk:
->Place the rest of the ghee (3 tbsp) in a small sauce pan. Heat the ghee in the pan until it is melted and hot.
->Add the black mustard seeds into the ghee. Once they begin to pop, add the cumin seeds and fry until they go brown.
->Add the fenugreek, asafoetida, and honey. Pour the chaunk directly into the soup. The soup should react violently.
->Cook the soup down or add water until the desired consistency is reached.

S. Masson