Dhal is one of my absolute favorite foods, it’s on constant rotation in my house. It’s sooo versatile. It’s a great way to feed a crowd and a handy one to prep in advance, it works brilliantly in a food flask for lunch on the go and once you have the basics you can add whatever you have in the fridge or keep it simple. This basic red lentil dahl comes together in 20 minutes so in my books it’s the ultimate fast food.

Yoganess Ireland’s Basic Dahl

Ingredients

(serves 4 with rice or naan bread or 2 if you want to keep it super simple)

Dhal is one of my absolute favorite foods, it’s on constant rotation in my house. It’s sooo versatile. It’s a great way to feed a crowd and a handy one to prep in advance, it works brilliantly in a food flask for lunch on the go and once you have the basics you can add whatever you have in the fridge or keep it simple. This basic red lentil dahl comes together in 20 minutes so in my books it’s the ultimate fast food.

  • 1 cup red lentils rinsed until the water runs clear
  • 2 cups of chopped kale or spinach or cabbage whatever is available
  • 3 large tomatoes chopped or a tin of tomatoes
  • ¼ cup desiccated coconut (optional), alternatively use a sachet of coconut cream and slightly reduce the amount of water.
  • 1 ½ cups of water (add more if it becomes too dry)
  • 1 tsp ghee or coconut oil or oil of your choice
  • 1 tsp cumin seed
  • 1 tsp black mustard seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ginger grated or ½ teaspoon of dried ginger powder
  • ½ tsp coriander powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp turmeric powder
  • ½ tsp fenugreek powder (optional)
  • Pinch Asafoetida/Hing (optional)

(if you don’t have any of the spices above don’t worry, use what you have and if all you have is some curry powder use 2 heaped spoons instead) when you get the hang of it I highly recommend experimenting with spices and using your intuition. You can’t really go wrong and you will feel like a proper alchemist mix and blending your own herbs and spices – I also like to add half a cinnamon stick or star anise, trial and error will help hone your intuition as you learn what flavors you like.

Method

  1. Melt the ghee/ coconut oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add seeds and allow them to pop.
  2. Add lentils and stir before adding water, tomatoes, powdered spices, coconut, chopped kale and salt.
  3. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and cook for 15/20 minutes. You can add more water if it’s too thick or if you want a more soupy dahl.
  4. You can serve with rice, naan bread, or topped with roasted veg, pickled beetroot, mango chutney, natural yoghurt (non ayurvedic), fresh coriander, grilled halloumi, a squeeze of lemon or any else that takes your fancy.
  5. I love to add butternut squash, pumpkin or carrots to this dahl depending on what’s in season or in the fridge.
  6. Don’t have any red lentils? use any lentils you do have, mung beans or yellow split peas (soak these for about 15/20 minutes in boiling water first and they need to cook a little longer.
  7. But there’s no onions or garlic I hear you say! I know, mad right? You can totally add them after the spices if you want but often I’ll leave them out as they are time consuming to prepare and according to Ayurvedic principles shouldn’t be consumed daily! (definitely do add them if you are feel like it or can’t fathom a dish without onion or garlic)
  8. Basically use what you have and don’t be afraid to try our different things, the spices are very forgiving! I honestly don’t think my dhal has ever been exactly the same twice but it’s always delicious and very satisfying!

If you do try it I’d love to know how you get on and if you have any feedback as I work on my recipe writing skills!