tomatoes and cumin for dal recipe

Entry tags:cuisine: indian, help: substitutions

I'm craving Indian-spiced food like crazy, and just happen to have most of the ingredients for the "Everyday Yellow Dal" recipe found in this article (scroll down a bit to get to the recipe). What I don't have, and am hoping I can substitute, are:

-large tomato - the recipe calls for it to be cut into wedges and simmered with the dal/split peas. I don't want to go out to the store for just one tomato, and plus, any "fresh" tomato I'd get in February in Michigan is bound to be pale, mealy, and in general nasty. I do have several cans of diced tomatoes in my pantry. Think I could sub one of those?

-cumin seeds - the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds. Again with the not wanting to go out to the store for one little ingredient - we are supposed to get "the blizzard of the century" tonight, whatever the heck that means (it has yet to start snowing!). I do have plenty of ground cumin. Could I use that instead - and if so, how much ground cumin would you substitute for 1/2 teaspoon of the seeds?

So, what say you,

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