Ok, 1 cup of red lentils to about 4 cups of water should give you 3 or 4 meal sized servings. I use powdered cumin/clove and fresh cilantro. I freehand it but go for at least a teaspoon of cumin and a pinches or two of ground clove. Or just use a garam masala mix. Honestly the spices are just a guide, I vary it all the time. Sometimes it has garlic and ginger too. Go with as much onion as you want, I usually use a whole small one. Puree half with the tomato so it adds to the sauce but keep half of it in coarsely chopped or in strips and brown that in some oil, then add the spice powders, stir a minute and then throw in the water, bay leaf, cilantro and lentils. And it's pretty good served with fresh chopped tomato on top too. You can build upon this quite easily too. Your imagination is your limit.