Lentil Dahl

We have been trying to reduce meat meals here at least once a week (meat free Monday) and often more. Lentils and beans are a great way to do this as you can make really hearty filling meals using them and you don't even notice that you haven't had meat.

I used buy a well known and very good spice blend to make it. But it's very expensive and then one day they were out of it in my local supermarket. So I just looked at the back of half a packet I had left and recreated the recipe.

Here is my version of lentil dahl.

300g red lentils
1 large red onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger finely chopped
a similar sized piece of fresh turmeric finely chopped (or use 1 teaspoon dried)
a red and a yellow chilli finely sliced with seeds*
300ml chicken stock (or vegetable)
half a tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tin of full fat coconut milk
half a lime juiced
a good pinch of sea salt
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp ground coriander

Soften the onions, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli in some oil. Add the cumin and coriander. Continue cooking for a couple of minutes, stirring so it doesn't stick. Add the lentils and continue to stir until the lentils are well coated in the onion mix. Add the stock, tomatoes and coconut milk and cook until the lentils are soft but still with a bit of a bite. Add the lime juice and continue to cook for a few minutes. Check seasoning.

Serve with some nice nutty brown rice and scatter with chopped fresh coriander.

*I leave the seeds in chillis as they contribute to the overall flavour and heat of the dish. You can remove them if you wish or use only one mild chilli.

This quantity will serve 4 adults as a main course or 8 as an accompaniment to another curry.