Wash and clean the toor dal / Red gram lentils in clear running water. Add about 3 cups of water to the lentils along with the green chilies. Cook the lentils until they are very soft and mushy. A pressure cooker works great as well as an Instant pot.

Once the dal is cooked, mash it well using a masher. I love my wooden Matthu (masher) for this purpose. The dal should be cooked quite well that it can be mashed very easily.

Add more water if you need the consistency to be thinner. I like this particular dal to be thinner and hence I added about a cup more of water.

Place the dal back in flame and bring it to a gentle boil. Add the salt needed for the dal.

In a small pan, heat the coconut oil. Once the oil heats up, add the mustard seeds, red chilies, curry leaves and asafetida and let it splutter. Add this to the cooked dal and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes.

Take the dal off the flame and keep it covered for few minutes for the flavors to combine. Serve with rice or as is as soup.