You need to stock these items in your pantry for the recipes I'm going to post. I highly recommend searching for the nearest Indian store to get all the items in one trip.

Tempering spices

• Turmeric powder
• Mustard seeds
• Cumin seeds
• Fenugreek seeds
• Dried red chilies
• Asafoetida

Lentils

• Split pigeon pea / Kandhi pappu (Telugu) / Toor dal (Hindi)
• Split black gram / Minapa pappu (Telugu) / Urad dal (Hindi)
• Split Bengal gram / Senaga pappu (Telugu) / Channa dal (Hindi)

Masala spices

• Red chili powder
• Cloves
• Cardamom
• Cinnamon bark
• Star anise