Dahl must be the ultimate vegetarian dish. This delicious dahl with red lentils has quite a few ingredients but is so worth making.

Dahl with red lentils

Dahl with red lentils

The book by Anna Jones ‘A modern way to eat”  has been with me a for a while but with all the christmas cooking going on I haven’t had time to cook from it, but of course January is the perfect month for a bit healthier fare than you’ve seen here the past month. Anna’s book is all vegetarian and filled to the brim with delicious recipes.

I am not a vegetarian as you know, but I do like to cook vegetarian meals every once in a while. Also because we try and eat sustainable meat and that tends to be more expensive than your average supermarket chicken, so that means less meat and more vegetarian options.

Dahl with red lentils

And Anna helps by sharing all those delicious vegetarian recipes. I have to confess I had not heard of Anna before but if I read the intro in the book I can tell she has earned her stripes as a vegetarian chef, food stylist and food writer. The book is fabulous.

Not only because it looks fabulous but because the recipes are great too. Not only for vegetarians but also for anyone who wants to eat a bit less meat going forward or just wants to eat the occasional vegetarian meal. Whatever the case, this book is a must have. I’m pretty sure I’ll be making lots of deliciousness from it in the year to come.

This recipe was a winner with both Tom and me (and he’s not big on vegetarian meals) and the sweet potatoes roasted with the spices alone is worth making it. I also made the coconut chutney but I didn’t like that so much. I probably did something wrong I’m guessing but whatever the case… This is delicious!

Lots of ingredients

As is the case with many Indian style recipes there are quite a lot of ingredients although most of those are from the spices used. If you read through the ingredient list below it is really not all that bad (providing you have most of the spices at hand in your kitchen)

The sweet potatoes are first roasted in the oven with cumin and fennel. Sprinkled with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. While they are roasting you can continue with the rest of the dahl.

Spices needed

To make the dahl with red lentils you need the following spices:

  • cumin seeds
  • coriander seeds
  • turmeric (ground)
  • cinnamon

Those are usually spices I have on hand in my kitchen. If you do want to use spices more often in your cooking it is worth buying whole spices instead of ground (with the exception of the turmeric) They will stay fresh and vibrant longer and you can roast them before using them so they get much more flavor.

I find that with the ground spices they loose their flavor quickly after having been in the store and in my cupboard for a long time.

Coconut chutney

As mentioned I didn’t actually like the coconut chutney. Either I did something wrong or it is just not my cup of tea. You can definitely leave it out. I liked the dahl with red lentils just fine without the coconut chutney.

I kept it in the recipe to be true to Anna Jones recipe, but feel free to leave it out entirely.

More recipes with lentils

If you’re a fan of anything with lentils be sure to check out the below recipes:

Dahl with sweet potatoes | insimoneskitchen.com
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Dahl with red lentils and sweet potatoes

Delicious and vegetarian dish with red lentils and sweet potatoes
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

For the sweet potatoes

  • 2 sweet potatoes or if they're really big one. Washed peeled and cut into cubes of about 1,5 cm
  • Seasalt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
  • olive oil

For the dahl

  • 2 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
  • 5 cm ginger roughly chopped (and peeled)
  • 1 green chili chopped
  • 1 red chili chopped
  • 1 red onion peeled and roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 200 gram red lentils
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 400 ml vegetable stock
  • 2 handful spinach
  • 1 bunch cilantro with stalks, chopped
  • 1 lemon juice

For the coconut chutney

  • 50 gram coconut grated
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 10 curry leaves
  • a bit of coconut oil
  • 20 gram ginger root grated
  • 1 red chili finely chopped

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 220˚ C. Pour 1,5 dl of boiling water over the coconut and set aside to soak.
  • Put the sweet potatoes into a roasting tray with a good pinch of salt and pepper and sprinkle over the cumin and fennelseeds and sprinkle with oil. Roast the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes in the oven until cooked and soft inside and crunchy on the outside.
  • Using a large pan add the garlic, ginger, red onion and chili and bake for about ten minutes until the onions are soft and translucent.
  • Rub the cumin and corianderseeds in a pestle and mortar and add them into the pan with the other spices and bake for a few minutes until fragrant. Stir in the lentils, coconut milk and stock and bring to the boil. Turn the heat down and leave to simmer for about 25-30 minutes.
  • Make your chutney in the meantime. Let the coconut drain and put into a bowl. Bake the mustard seeds and the curry leaves in a bit of oil until the mustard seeds begin to pop. Pour over the coconut, Add salt and pepepr to taste and stir in the ginger and red chili.
  • Take the dahl of the heat and stir in the spinach and leave to wilt a bit. Stir in half of the cilantro and the lemon juice. Put a portion into deep plates or bowls and add the crispy sweet potato on top, a few tbsp of the coconut chutney and the remaining cilantro. You can serve with chapati’s, roti or rice.
Course: Main
Cuisine: Indian
Keyword: lentils, sweet potatoes
Diet: vegetarian
Author: Anna Jones

Nutrition Information

Calories: 567kcal, Carbohydrates: 71g, Protein: 19g, Fat: 26g, Saturated Fat: 22g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Sodium: 535mg, Potassium: 1438mg, Fiber: 23g, Sugar: 11g, Vitamin A: 18134IU, Vitamin C: 112mg, Calcium: 151mg, Iron: 10mg

Disclaimer

The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.

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