I tried making daal tonight. I had no idea what I was getting into, but split peas were $.54/lb and there was a recipe on the bag. I had turmeric, cumin, and cayenne in the house already, so woohoo, experiment.
At first, I regretted this. Turmeric is a scent that- well, to be honest, I was quite concerned I would not be ingesting this food once completed. Between that and the yellow peas it was quite pretty though.
Once the onion and cumin were added, it smelled more like familiar food (I'm a cumin fiend, I have no idea when I picked up that addiction).
Somehow, despite all the flavors, it came out somewhat bland but still hot. Not sure how that worked. A pinch of salt fixed it; I let it stew for a while and whether it's supposed to or not (see previous mention of having no idea) it is now the approximate consistency of hummus. I will definitely be making it again in the future.