Dinner is served with this Indian-inspired vegan red lentil dhal.
I’m no expert on Indian cuisine and flavours, but I do love lentils. And this red lentil dhal is by far my favourite way to use them! We have this on a very regular basis in our home and our baby loves it, too! At first, I made it for him without any spice, except a bit of paprika and turmeric. But I’ve discovered that he is ok with lots of different flavours right now, even the ones I assumed would be too strong for him.
I’m actually so insecure about my savoury recipes because I grew up as the fussiest eater on the planet. I only liked sweet and bland foods. So I feel like I have zero knowledge of good flavour combinations. I used to literally be terrified of trying anything ethnic or spicy or anything flavourful at all. But thanks to a great husband who patiently and slowly tried to expose me to new things and my illness that taught me that nutrition is really, really important, I now enjoy a much greater variety of flavours (including Indian). I’m still a fussy eater, but a healthy fussy eater with an open mind!
I’m not going to claim that this is an authentic red lentil dhal recipe. The spices are probably all wrong. But it is delicious none the less. And we love it as a family. Before I had Bub, I used to always have a stash of healthy homemade naan bread in the freezer that I would pull out when we had a curry at home. I find naan bread so time-consuming, so lately we have resorted to taking a walk down to our favourite Indian place down the road and getting take away naan because I simply can’t have curry without naan. I’m addicted!
I leave out chilli in this vegan dhal recipe because we prefer things mild, especially with the baby. But please feel free to adjust the spices to your pallet and add anything else you think would make it taste more authentic to you!
Ingredients
- ½ cup dry red lentils
- 2 cups water
- I TBSP sunflower oil (or oil of choice)
- 1 brown onion diced
- 1-2 garlic cloves
- 1 heaped TBSP tomato paste
- 1 tomato diced
- ¼ cup canned peas
- 2 tsp dried vegetable stock
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp Keen's curry powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- Fresh parsley or coriander and brown rice to serve
Instructions
- Begin by soaking your lentils for at least 30 mins.
- In a saucepan add the oil and fry off diced onion until translucent. Add curry powder and all spices and fry off for one to two minutes until they become fragrant .
- Add soaked lentils and two cups water as well as dry veg stock. Allow to simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked and thick and most of the eater has evaporated. Add diced tomato, cook for a few more minutes and add tomato paste and peas. Mix in tomato paste well to give nice red colour to the lentils . Serve with brown rice (naan bread) and garnish with fresh parsley or coriander.
Craving more delectable vegan recipes? Whip up my sweet and sour tempeh for dinner!
This recipe was republished with permission from Hazel and Cacao.
