Lentil Dahl

We usually make this with red lentils but we’d run out so I just used canned lentils. It still works really well.

The kids LOVE dahl. They won’t eat the fresh tomato but they like the coconut yoghurt.

Sometimes we eat it with rice, sometimes we eat it only with naan bread or pappadams.

The garlic tomatoes are a Jamie Oliver thing we learnt a few years ago. They’re delicious!

Ingredients

2 brown onions, finely diced

4 cloves of garlic, finely grated

2 tsp ginger, finely grated

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp coriander, finely chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp garam masala (or other curry powder)

300 g red lentils

2-3 cups of vegetable stock

3-4 blocks of frozen spinach

1 cup coconut milk

1 can tomatoes

2 tsp brown sugar

2-3 good squeeze of fresh lemon

Method

Start the rice in the rice cooker or however you cook rice.

In a large pan, on high heat pour in a little stock, maybe 1/2 a cup. (If you cook with oil, you can use oil, we try not to cook with oil wherever possible).

Add the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the garlic and ginger, then cook for another 2-3 minutes.

Next, add the spices and tomatoes and stir through for a minute or two. You want to fry the tomato.

If you have red lentils, rinse them and add to the pan, otherwise add 2 cans of lentils, strained & rinsed.

Pour in the rest of the veggie stock, stir and then simmer for 8-10 minutes or until lentils have absorbed most of the liquid.

Add the coconut milk, frozen spinach, the sugar and continue to simmer with the lid off for a further 10 min or until spinach has defrosted.

Add salt & pepper to taste, the fresh lemon juice and serve.

We like to serve this meal with fresh coriander, coconut yoghurt, finely sliced tomatoes with grated garlic & pappadams or naan bread.

It’s really up to you.

If you used red lentils and they absorbed a lot of liquid and the dahl is too thick, you can loosen it with a little more coconut milk (or coconut water if you have it) or a little more stock.

If you’ve used canned lentils and the consistency is too loose, just simmer it for a while longer with the lid off to evaporate some liquid.

Just play around with it, you really can’t go wrong.