Lentil Dhal for Veganuary

Veganuary is in it’s 7th year now, and this year is the biggest so far, with approximately 500,000 signing up to eat no animal products in the month of January. Some people go back to their regular eating habits after the month is up, but a lot of people actually make the change permanent. This is what happened to me in 2015, I tried it for a month and I’ve never looked back. I found the recipe ideas and the motivation of signing up for it a really good incentive to do something that I had been wanting to do for a while.

I hate it when you click on a recipe only to have to read loads and loads of blurb about it, so I am just going to go straight to the actual recipe! This is my own personal Lentil Dhal recipe that I have come up with over time, after lots of trial and error, and with this version I have found one that is consistently good. I have a few ideas of swaps that you can make afterwards, because if you are anything like me, you never have exactly what you need to make something, so I have become pretty adept at swaps!

Oh and I don’t use oil to cook at all, so you may be trying this for the first time, I add a bit water to the pan, enough so that it covers the bottom, bring it to a boil, then add my onions and garlic and ginger. Keep an eye on it so the water doesn’t disappear, and add a bit more but not too much, so that it doesn’t stick to the pan.

Lentil Dhal

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 medium white onion, chopped

1 inch of ginger (or a tsp of ready chopped ginger)

1 garlic clove, crushed or chopped

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp tumeric

1 generous tbsp of mild curry powder (I use Fudco Madras powder)

1 carrot grated

4 frozen chopped spinach portions (fresh is fine too, then use 1/2 bag)

1 400g can of chopped tomatoes

1 400g can of coconut milk

1 400g can of chick peas

100g red lentils

1/2 pint of vegetable stock

Optional chopped coriander and coconut yogurt

Instructions

As mentioned before, put enough water in the pan to cover the base but not too much, we aren’t boiling the onions, just sautéing. When it is bubbling, add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger and then fry in the water for around 3 minutes, then add the spices, and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the onions start to soften. You may need to add a dash of water to stop it drying out, and also cook them over a medium heat.

Add the grated carrot, and stir, then pour in the tomatoes, the red lentils and the stock. Cover and cook for around 10 minutes, on a low to medium heat, and stir regularly, then when the lentils are starting to look cooked, add the coconut milk, spinach and chick peas.

Cook for another 5 minutes for the frozen spinach and for a minute for the fresh.

I don’t normally add salt or pepper to this dish, as the stock contains salt and there are plenty of other flavours, but if you want to, you can use additional seasoning.

Serve with coconut rice, I love the Tilda pouches, or brown basmati rice, or the curry is great with a bit of coconut yogurt and a few small tortilla wraps. You can come up with your own serving ideas, there are plenty of ways you can serve this.

If lentils and chickpeas don’t agree with you, then you can add potatoes and cauliflower and make it a vegetable curry. I tend to use canned beans, but dried ones soaked overnight are really great too. This doesn’t work for me as I never plan meals that far ahead. Same goes for canned lentils, you can add them near the end. Also I have thrown in some frozen peas instead of the spinach and it has worked really well. Sometimes as well, frustratingly I don’t even have canned tomatoes, so I have used fresh ones chopped up, I would add them a bit later on though, not at the start. The world is your oyster! Any swaps will change the flavour of course, and the version that I have posted is my absolute favourite out of all the variations, but have fun with trying it out and coming up with your very own favourite.

I hope you like my Veganuary Lentil Dhal!

Nutrition Facts

Servings: 4

Amount per serving Calories371

% Daily Value

*Total Fat 13.4g 17%

Saturated Fat 8.5g 43%

Cholesterol 0mg 0%

Sodium 407mg 18%

Total Carbohydrate 47.6g 17%

Dietary Fiber 10.9g 39%

Total Sugars 4.2g

Protein 17g

Vitamin D 0mcg 0%

Calcium 237mg 18%

Iron 13mg 74%

Potassium 761mg 16%

*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calorie a day is used for general nutrition advice.