Red Lentil and Vegetable Dahl

Red Lentil and Vegetable Dahl served with Leafy Greens

A creamy, comforting, flavourful red lentil dahl which is quick to make, easy to adapt to include fresh or frozen vegetables and keeps well for leftovers the following day. If I’m working from home I have for lunch but also works well as a midweek evening meal too, or as a great addition to a weekend curry night.

Ingredients

• 1/2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 onion

• 1-2 garlic cloves

• root ginger, about 5cm chunk

• 1 carrot*

• 1 large or 4 mini peppers*

• 1 tsp cumin

• 1 tsp garam masala or curry powder

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 500ml stock or water

• handful of fresh spinach*

• optional 1 tbsp coconut cream

• salt and black pepper to taste

Method

1. Chop the onion, garlic, ginger, pepper and carrot

2. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion for about 3-4 minutes until started to soften, add the garlic, ginger, peppers and carrot and sauté for a further 2 minutes.

3. Add the spices and heat until fragrant

4. Rinse the lentils well and add to the vegetables, with the water or stock and bring to boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

5. If using, add the coconut cream (any remaining you can freeze in an ice cube tray and use to add to porridge or the next time you make dahl or curry) and the chopped spinach. Cook for a further 5 minutes or until the lentils are soft and spinach wilted. The dahl should be thick.

6. Season well and serve with fresh coriander, if you like.

Delicious with lightly spiced green veg.

You can fry 1 tsp mustard seeds and 1 tsp whole cumin seeds in a little oil, add your chopped green veg and a little water and steam fry until just soft, then add some chilli flakes and desiccated coconut - so tasty! You could also serve with wholegrain pitta or chapatti or some brown rice.

No Fresh veg? No problem…

* If you don’t have fresh veg available this also works really well with frozen veg. Make as above but add the frozen veg after the lentils have been cooking for about 10 minutes (near the end of step 4) and heat through until the veg has defrosted and cooked, probably about 10 minutes.

You can use other vegetables too, for example, sweet potato instead of carrot; courgette or aubergine instead of peppers. No need to add spinach if you don’t like it. You could use green beans or frozen peas.

What is Dahl (also known as daal, dal or dhal)

Dal refers to dried, split pulses and lentil soups which are staple foods in South Asia. Red lentils cook quickly and don’t require soaking. You can make dahl with all kinds of lentils or split peas - just adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Easy to digest

Lentils are usually easily digested. If you find they contribute to bloating you can soak them first and make sure you don’t eat too big a portion.

Health benefits

Lentils are a great source of fibre which helps support regular bowel movements and the growth of ‘friendly’ gut bacteria. They are also rich in polyphenols, a particular class of antioxidants, which are super fuel for those gut bacteria. Different types of lentils will have a different combination of antioxidants. So mix it up!

Lentils are also rich in B vitamins, minerals like iron, zinc and magnesium.

They also provide a good vegetarian source of protein and complex carbohydrates.