A fiery paste of dry red chillies, aromatic seeds and pungent ginger and garlic is at the heart of this masalawali toovar dal. Although it sounds too hot, it actually ends up enjoyably semi-spicy, when this paste is combined with cooked toovar dal, baby onions and tomatoes, making the masalawali toovar dal a wonderful accompaniment for any type of rotis, parathas or a bowl of hot rice.