Vegan Lentil Dahl

It may be delicious, but lentil dahl isn’t the prettiest to photograph, so I topped mine with a sweet potato cake – rice works just as well! – and surrounded it with roasted balsamic vegetables.

I could not stop thinking recently about an amazing lentil dahl I had while on vacation, so I just had to replicate the recipe at home.

Dahl is such a great comfort food, filling meal and delicious vegan dinner. It never tastes the same to me – every Indian restaurant I go to has a variation on the flavour, sometimes according to which region of India the chef draws inspiration from but sometimes it’s just fun to play around with variations.

So enjoy this variation and also feel free to change it up, upping the spice and adding new flavours. You could also throw more veggies into the dahl itself rather than serving with roasted veg on the side, like I did. Whatever you feel like – the recipe is fairly adaptable!

Lentil Dahl

INGREDIENTS (serves 2):

1 tbsp coconut oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 cup dry lentils – red or green (red will be mushier)
2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mild curry powder or garam masala
1/8 tsp smoked paprika
Sea salt to taste (I used 1/4 tsp Herbamare)

METHOD:

1. Heat 1 tbsp coconut oil in a large saute pan. Add tomatoes, garlic and green onions. Stirfry for a few minutes.

2. Add lentils and stock. Season to taste with the seasonings listed and then let simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the lentils are completely cooked through.

3. Transfer mixture to a blender and pulse a few times, stirring in between, till the dahl is still chunky but better combined.

Nutritional information per serving: