Today I’m sharing a rich, creamy lentil dal that’s easy, pretty ‘hands-off’, almost a ‘one pot’, it’s packed full of flavour and is also plant-based…
INGREDIENTS
Vegetables:
Sweet potato
Spinach
Dal:
Red lentils
Coconut milk
Vegetable stock
Aromatics & Flavour:
Ginger
Garlic
Shallot
Green chilli
Galangal (optional – for a zingy flavour)
Turmeric
Cumin
Toppings (optional):
Pickled red onion (homemade or store-bought)
Lime
Coriander
Yoghurt (I recommend any full-fat dairy or a vegan coconut yoghurt such as Cocos Organic)
Accompaniments:
I like to enjoy daal with a naan, as the lentils are filling enough, but the bread helps to mop up every last bit of sauce!
TIPS
I really recommend pre-soaking the lentils before cooking. I do this because my tummy can be a little sensitive to lentils, and this makes them more digestible, and to speed up cooking time. It’s not essential; red lentils are small enough that you can absolutely just rinse them well from the packet and add them directly into the dish with a little extra vegetable stock and added cooking time (I’d allow at least another 15 minutes). However, my tip is to pre-soak them for at least 4-5 hours in cold water after rinsing the lentils well; I simply do this before work (if I’m in the office) or at lunchtime (at the weekend or if I’m working from home); it takes a couple of minutes and it does definitely improve the texture of the daal. You will notice most of the water is absorbed during this time by the lentils and they’re nicely saturated and softened when it comes to making the dal.
Sweet Potato, Coconut & Lentil Dal
a coconut lentil curry with plenty of plant protein
Ingredients
- 1 sweet potato (sliced into rounds – skin on or peeled)
- 4 cloves of garlic (crushed, finely chopped or grated)
- 1 mild / medium green chilli (finely chopped)
- c.5cm of fresh ginger (peeled and chopped)
- 1 shallot (finely chopped)
- 1 tbsp of galangal (optional)
- 1 tsp of turmeric
- 1 tsp of cumin
- 250g of red lentils
- 400ml (1 can) of coconut milk
- 250 ml of vegetable stock (double if not pre-soaking the lentils)
- 80g of spinach (roughly chopped)
- Melted coconut oil for cooking (or any neutral oil)
- 1 lime (cut into quarters)
- 2 tbsp of yoghurt (Greek or vegan coconut)
- Handful of fresh coriander (c.3g) (de-stemmed and chopped)
- c.15g of pickled red onion
- Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200C and boil the kettle
- Add the sweet potato sliced with some coconut oil, salt and pepper to taste and a sprinkle of the cumin to a baking sheet and oven bake for around 25 minutes (halfway through cooking, turn each slice over)
- To a casserole dish, Dutch oven or another large lidded pot, over a medium heat add some coconut oil and the ginger, chilli, garlic and shallots – sauté for a couple of minutes until fragrant before adding the remaining cumin and turmeric and stirring in
- Add the galangal and lentils, stir and cook for a couple of minutes whilst you prepare the vegetable stock with the boiled water
- Add the vegetable stock, season with salt and pepper, stir, cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until the stock is absorbed
- Add the coconut milk, stir to combine, cover and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring regularly until the mixture is curry-like with some liquid absorbed but a rich sauce still remains
- Add the chopped spinach, stir, cover and cook for a further 5 minutes until wilted
- Combine the juice of the lime with the yoghurt (if you’re yoghurt is runnier to start with; reserve a lime segment or two as a garnish, if it’s thicker, you may also need to add a little water, half a tsp at a time) to create a topping that slides off a spoon but isn’t too runny
- Serve topped with the baked sweet potato and topped with the fresh coriander, pickled onion and lime yoghurt – I recommend naan bread as an accompaniment
Let me know if you try this flavourful lentil daal and check out my method below!
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