We have been eating this delicious coconut lentil dahl a lot lately. It is very easy to make and pretty cheap too. This is my onion free version, but you can chop and fry your onion with the celery if you like it. It is vegan too. We either eat it with rice and poppadoms or with chapatis. I was excited to find these in Lidl the other day as I love them!
Creamy coconut lentil dahl
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 celery sticks, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 large carrot, diced
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp garam masala
A 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated (I peel and freeze ginger and grate it straight from the freezer)
225 g red lentils
1 400 ml can coconut milk
1 heaped tsp vegetable stock dissolved in 400 ml hot water
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
A good squirt of lemon juice
50 g flaked almonds
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok. Add the celery, onions if you are using them and garlic. Gently saute for around 5 minutes then add the carrot and spices. Stir for a couple of minutes, then add the lentils, tomatoes, coconut milk and stock. Season to taste and bring to the boil. Cover and cook for around 40 minutes, checking regularly to make sure the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. If necessary, add more water. When the lentils are soft, add a good squirt of lemon juice and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve with rice or chapatis and sprinkle the almonds on top.
I hope you enjoy this creamy coconut lentil dahl. Check out my other frugal recipes here.
Petra / Be Healthy Now says
Love this recipe! I use red lentils all the time but I normally make red lentil soup with them, however, I would love to try dahl. I am not a big fan of spicy food but I think I can make it quite mild. I don’t have yellow mustard seeds though. Are these essential? Can I use something else instead?
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Pretty sure you can leave them out although they give an interesting crunch. I make this pretty mild. You could be cautious with the chilli. None of the other spices are hot. Love this recipe. Eating it at least once a week as it’s so easy
Shirley Berry says
Must try this Jane next time we have veggie friends over or just for us two.
Julia says
Sounds lovely. I might substitute a can of chopped tomatoes (maybe drained first?) for the cherry tomatoes though because I never buy cherry tomatoes outside of “salad season”!
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
I did that one time and it was fine. I didn’t put all the juice in though
Christine says
I have just made this and had 2 very large helpings it is so delicious. Thank you.
shoestringjane@outlook.com says
Glad you enjoyed it