RED LENTIL DAHL WITH COCONUT RICE

This wet weather really calls for a big steaming bowl of delicious curry! After seeing a bowl of this pop up on Instagram, I sought out a recipe and tried this one by Loving Earth. It is 100% hippo approved! Apologies to Amy who requested this recipe - finally got to it!

The only tweaks made to it are below in bold and underlined:

FOR THE DAHL

  • 1 tbsp Coconut Oil - I’m allergic to coconut oil so just used regular sunflower or canola oil

  • 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped

  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed - finely diced

  • ½ tsp ground turmeric

  • 1 tsp ground paprika

  • ½ tsp ground cumin

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 1 tsp ground coriander

  • ⅓ tsp sea salt

  • 1 cup red lentils, washed and drained

  • ⅓ cup tomato paste

  • Water as required

  • Add whatever veggies you desire - I think I used diced carrot, sweet potato & cauliflower, (potato, eggplant, zucchini and broccoli are other alternatives too)

  • Love my curry with a kick so I used 1 - 2 fresh chillies and/or 1/2 - 1 tsp of chilli flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)

  • Chopped coriander to garnish

FOR THE COCONUT RICE

  • 2 cups jasmine rice, washed - Used basmati rice instead

  • 1 can coconut milk, full fat

  • 1 cup water - I have a rice cooker, so only topped up with water as required

  • 1 cinnamon stick

  • ½ tsp sea salt - I skipped this!

STEP 1: Lightly fry the onion in oil until golden brown.

STEP 2: Add the garlic, spices, herbs and seasonings and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

STEP 3: Add lentils to the onion mix and stir through the tomato paste.

STEP 4: Add enough water to cover the lentils and bring to the boil.

STEP 5: Cover gently and simmer until the lentils are tender (approx 40 minutes). Add diced veggies of your choice. Add water as necessary to keep the lentils moist and a bit saucy.

STEP 6: For the coconut rice - Put all in ingredients in a pot bring and bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. - I have a rice cooker, so see above for tweaks.

Let us know how you go in the comments below! Happy cooking!