Veggie Dal
A simple lentil dish that is full of veggies, healthy and is a great winter warmer. Eat it for lunch or a simple supper, with Greek yoghurt on the side and warm flatbread.
It’s not too difficult to make. For this recipe, I've used store-bought curry paste—the work is done for you.
The basis of the dish is lentils, and red lentils give a great colour. But any lentils will do. The main veggie used is butternut pumpkin. You could also use sweet potato. Feel free to add in some other veggies for added veggie goodness.
NOTE: You could easily make this dal as a half quantity, perfect for 2 or 3 people.
2 cups cut butternut pumpkin – about half of a butternut pumpkin
2 medium onions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of a good curry paste
250g red lentils
1 litre vegetable stock
400g tin whole tomatoes
Chilli flakes or chilli paste
Greek yoghurt and basil leaves to serve
Preheat the oven to 200° C, 180° C fan.
Peel the pumpkin and chop it into small chunks. Peel the onions and roughly chop them. Put the pumpkin and onions into a large heavy-based pan. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper. Make sure this pan can be used on the stovetop and that it has a lid.
Pour the oil over the vegetables and roughly mix everything together. Put the pan into the oven, lid off, and roast for about 30 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft and the onions are caramelised.
Remove from the oven. Take about half of the roast pumpkin and onions, put them in another dish, and cover with foil.
Spoon the curry paste over the vegetables remaining in the pan and stir through. Scatter the lentils over the roast vegetables. Add the tinned tomatoes and break the tomatoes up into the mixture. Pour over the vegetable stock. It seems like a lot, but it's quickly absorbed.
Put the pan onto the stovetop on a medium heat. Once the mixture has heated up, turn the heat to low and simmer the mixture with the lid on until the lentils are soft and the dal has thickened, about 30 minutes. It's hard to say exactly how long – you will know when the lentils are cooked and really soft. Add a bit more water if the dal is too thick or it's sticking to the pan.
Once the dal is cooked, remove it from the heat and check the seasoning. If you want it hotter, add some chilli flakes or even some chilli paste.
Stir in the rest of the roasted pumpkin and onion that you put aside. You can also place them on top of the dal without stirring them in.
Serve with Greek yoghurt, basil leaves and flatbread.