The Orange Pot

Home // Red Lentil Dahl (V)

Prep: 20 mins // Cooking time: 40 minutes

Ingredients list:

• 4 tbsp salted butter (use plant-based alternative to make this whole dish vegan)
  
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 or 2 inches of root ginger, grated
• 1 tbsp medium curry powder
• 1 tsp of cayenne pepper (remove if you want it to be a mild dish)
  
• 720ml water
• 1 can of coconut milk
• 2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
• 1 can of plum tomatoes
• 400ml of dried red lentils
• juice of half a lemon (or a tsp of lemon concetrate)
• 1 tsp garam masala

Cooking instructions

1. Heat half of the butter in a large Dutch pot (steel, or enamelled iron) set over a medium heat. Add onions until they are softened and transluscent. Add garlic and grated ginger, stirring often to make sure garlic is cooked and not burned.
2. Stir in the curry powder and cayenne and keep stirring as it cooks and becomes more fragrant. Longer than a minute and you'll burn the spices.
3. Add the tomatoes first, and with your wooden spoon/spatula crush the plum tomatoes before adding water, coconut milk, tomato paste.
4. Stir in the lentils and bring to the boil.
5. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for approx 30 minutes.
6. The lentils should be soft, so now is the time to add the lemon juice and garam masala before allowing to simmer for a further 10 minutes.
7. Serve with rice. Roasted aubergine with paprika works well as a side dish.