Green and yellow dal

It is getting colder and colder outside and what is better than a warm, spicy, comforting meal to fight the cold?
Dal is a very easy lentil stew which is absolutely satisfying through its many different spices, creamy coconut milk and filling lentils. This recipe is inspired by the traditional Indian dish (obviously), but the red lentils only take about 10 minutes to cook and frozen spinach gives it a nice fresh twist, adds great flavour and nutritional value and also gives it a gorgeous colour.


This recipe yields two generous portions and a portion has about 488 calories, 26g protein, 16g fiber, and only 5g (natural) sugar. Of course it is also packed with tons of micronutrients, the full nutritional info can be found here (I added it to an online food database and calorie tracker, but without the spices).
The dish takes about 10 minutes to prepare (chopping vegetables and stuff) and 20 minutes to cook in a single pan.

Ingredients

  • 160g dried red lentils
  • 2 medium sized onions
  • 1 can (400 ml) low fat coconut milk
  • 225g of frozen spinach
  • 1 tbsp of coconut oil
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tsp of tandoori masala powder
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • a pinch of ginger (optional)
  • a pinch of cinnamon (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp of ground tumeric (optional, but gives a nice yellow colour)
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chili flakes if you like a little more heat

Instructions

Prepare the spinach by letting it defrost in a bowl. Coarsely chop the onions into cubes.
In a large frying pan over medium high heat melt the coconut oil. Add the onions and stirfry them until they are somewhat translucent and starting to turn a little brown.
Add the spices (except for salt&pep) and the finely chopped or minced garlic and stirfry them for about two or three minutes, being careful not to burn them.
Add the lentils and fry them for a minute or so before adding some water (I'd say about 200 ml) and the coconut milk. Reduce the heat to medium low and let it simmer for about 10 minutes or until the lentils are cooked. Then stir in the defrosted spinach and cook for another five or so minutes. Add salt, pepper and chili flakes to taste. Add more water if the stew gets too dry, you are aiming for a soaky soupy consistency, but not for a soup.

That's it, enjoy!



I enjoyed my meal wrapped in some warm clothes on the balcony, since we finally had a beautiful sunny day here in Groningen for a change!



The leftover portion is stored in a container in the fridge to be devoured later.

 



Photos and original recipe
copyright © 2017 Anna Sandor

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