Indian Style Rice & Lentil Pilaf

Onion (chopped), .5 cups
Butter - Ghee, 1/4 cup (divided)
1 Cinnamon Stick, 1 serving (remove)
6 cardamom pods
1 Bay Leaf
Coriander seed, .5 tsp
Cumin seed, .5 tsp
2 dried red chile peppers
3 whole cloves
3/4 c. Aromatic Basmati Rice
3 1/2 c. water (divided)
Turmeric, ground, .5 tsp
1 tsp. Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt (divided)
2/3 c. Lentils
1/2 lb. Potatoes (about 1 cup) diced
1 1/2 c. grated carrot (3 medium)
Pepper, black, 1 tsp (or to taste)

Heat 2 Tbs. ghee in saucepan over medium heat. Add cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, bay leaf, coriander seed, cumin seed, chile peppers, and cloves. Cook for about a minute or until you can smell the spices. Remove spiced to a bowl and add chopped onion to ghee in pan. Turn heat to medium low and cook 10 minutes. Add rice and cook on medium 1 minute. Return spices to pan. Add 1 1/2 c. water & 1/2 tsp. salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce to low, cover with paper towel-lined lid, and cook 20 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered 15 minutes.

Place lentils and 2 c. water in a sauce pan with 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 25 minutes, until lentils are tender.

Cook potatoes in saucepan with remainder of ghee for about 10 minutes. Add grated carrots and cook 3-5 minutes more, until they are tender.

Drain lentils. Combine rice mixture, lentils, and potato mixture.

Serving Size: makes 4 1-cup servings

Number of Servings: 4

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user BJMOOMEY.