Dal is a blanket term for any curry that is based on lentils. This red lentil Indian recipe is filling, tasty and nourishing – the perfect midweek recipe and a real batch-cooking hero as it lasts in a fridge for two days and freezes well too. We’ve swapped tinned coconut milk for coconut yogurt to cut out 80% of the saturated fat you would normally get in dal, while still keeping that tropical creamy hit.
Typical nutritional content (per portion)
3 cloves of garlic
1 thumb-sized piece of root ginger
1 medium onion
2 tablespoons curry powder
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric
500g tub plain coconut yogurt
400ml salt-free vegetable stock
2 ripe tomatoes
200g dry red lentils
1 large sweet potato
80g baby spinach leaves
Freshly ground black pepper
10g fresh coriander sprigs
3 wholegrain pittas
3 tablespoons low-fat yogurt
Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into small, bite-sized pieces. Peel and finely chop the onion, root ginger and garlic. Finely chop the tomatoes. Rinse and drain the lentils.
In a hot pan, fry the onions and ginger in 4 tablespoons of water for 5 minutes until soft, stirring regularly. Add the garlic and tomatoes and continue to cook for a further minute. Add the sweet potato, curry powder, cumin seeds and turmeric and stir well so the sweet potato is coated in the spice mixture and cook for a further minute.
Stir in the vegetable stock, add in the red lentils and simmer for 20 minutes until the red lentils have cooked and it has thickened to a porridge-like consistency. Add in the coconut yogurt, stirring until fully dissolved. Add more water if needed – you’ll be surprised how much liquid red lentils can absorb. Once the dal is cooked, stir in the baby spinach. Season with freshly ground black pepper.
To serve, divide the dal between each bowl, toast the pittas and cut into soldiers, and garnish with roughly chopped coriander leaves and a dollop of low-fat yogurt. Variations: You can swap the pittas for brown rice. Mango chutney and toasted almonds also work well as toppings.
