How to predict and adjust the spice level of dal? I have made countless recipes from popular Indian books and when I taste the end result, I always feel like the dish needs more spice. For example, I tried a recipe for Sri Lankan Dal with coconut found below and thought it could use more spice and it's usually too late by the time everything has been cooked since the dal needs to simmer with the spices. How can someone gauge the needed spice level of a recipe before hand? And how can someone amend the spice level after the dal has been cooked? Fry the spices in some oil and add it back to the dal?
Recipe:

450g red lentils

3 cardamom pods

coconut oil

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

2 brown onions, thinly sliced

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

2cm ginger, peeled and grated

2 green finger chillies, finely sliced

⅓ teaspoon ground turmeric

250g kale

200ml tinned coconut milk

salt

½ teaspoon mustard seeds

2 tablespoons desiccated or fresh grated coconut

juice of 1 lime


Recipe taken from Fresh India: 130 Quick, Easy and Delicious Vegetarian Recipes for Every Day by Meera Sodha.
Firstly, it has to be said - the way you learn to judge quantities is … practise.
However, there are several factors at play here…

&quot;Indians&quot; [sorry, I'm generalising a whole continent into one word for convenience] don't eat mouth-stingingly-hot food at every meal.
Some food is mild, some is 'go-for-it'. Some is rich, some is bland, some has heat, some has aromatics.
There is a North/South divide on 'spiciness' or 'heat' with the Southern continent going for hotter examples, Northern more dependant on aromatics.

Western &quot;Indian&quot; restaurants have tainted our view of what &quot;Indian&quot; food is.

Dal can be pretty bland anyway.

Your recipe is towards the bland end of the spectrum of possible dal recipes. The 'Sri Lankan-ness' in it is really only the coconut &amp; perhaps the mustard seed.


So, that done with, in a broad sweeping generalisation kind of way, to your issue.
The recipe as written is missing a lot of what I would consider a 'basic' dal.
For a whistle-stop basic chana dal…
Boil dal with turmeric for half an hour
Fry cumin, garlic, onions
Add tomato, ginger, green chilli
Add chilli powder, turmeric, garam masala [or supermarket 'curry powder' depending on availability], asafoetida, coriander powder, dried methi
Add to dal mixture
Simmer until happy.
If you want to trick this up to feel more Southern or Sri Lankan, substitute coconut milk for some of the lentil boiling liquid, sub coconut oil for the ghee, add curry leaves &amp; black mustard seed. Chillies, fresh green or ground red to taste.
Some of the ingredients you can add more later. Chilli powder, garam masala or 'curry powder' if you want a quick boost.
Other aromatics such as cardamom &amp; clove, if you cheat &amp; use them in powdered form, you can boost at any point. They're not as potent as whole, but they're a quick fix.
Another cheat is garlic powder, which is used by many restaurants rather than fresh - again, not the same as fresh, but can be used as a pep-up at any time [watch it doesn't go lumpy, make a thick slurry with water first to be safe.]