Coconut Lemongrass Dhal

 Coconut Lemongrass Dhal

By Namit Kathoria

 

Soaking time: Overnight

Preparation time: 20-25 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

 

Serves 2-4 portions

Ingredients:

Main part

2 tablespoons olive oil

¾ white onion diced (keep the other ¼ for the sambol mixture)

½ tomato diced (keep the other ½ for the sambol mixture)

25 dried curry leaves / 8 fresh curry leaves

¾ inch fresh turmeric grated / ½ teaspoon turmeric powder

3 garlic cloves grated

½ inch ginger grated

1 green chilli finely diced (deseeded if desired to decrease the heat)

2 lemongrass sticks each cut into 3 pieces

1 cinnamon stick

½ cup brown lentils (left to soak overnight) / 1 jar (400g) brown lentils

1 sweet potato diced

400 ml coconut milk

2 teaspoons garam masala

½ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt

Juice of ½ lime including the fibre

Small handful of fresh spinach

 

 

Sambol

¼ white onion diced

½ tomato diced

Juice of ½ lime

25-30g desiccated coconut

1 red chilli finely chopped (deseeded if desired to decrease the heat)

¼ teaspoon Himalayan rock salt

3 tablespoons boiling water

 

Preparation:

1. If using dried lentils, soak overnight. Rinse through and drain the next day. Otherwise simply rinse and drain the jar of cooked lentils.
2. Chop the onion and the tomatoes keeping the proportions mentioned in the ingredients aside for the sambol mixture. Chop the chilli, the sweet potato and the lemongrass and grate the garlic, the ginger and the fresh turmeric.
3. Heat up some of the oil (if you are using an Instant Pot use the sauté function) on a medium to high heat with one piece of the onion in a large pan. Once it starts to sizzle, add in the rest of the onion and the tomatoes. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the onion becomes translucent and the tomatoes have started to become soft.
4. Now add in the garlic, the ginger, the turmeric, the chilli, the lemongrass and the cinnamon stick with a little bit more oil and deglaze with some water if you need to. Stir through for about 30 seconds.
5. Add in the garam masala and the salt with some more oil and some water if you want to deglaze again. Stir through for about 30 more seconds.
6. Now add in the sweet potato and some olive oil again and again deglaze with some water if you need to. Mix and cook for about 30 seconds to one minute so that the sweet potato is covered with the garam masala and oil.
7. If you are using an Instant Pot, switch off the sauté function now. Add in the curry leaves, the coconut milk and the lentils. Close the lid and set the valve to the seal position. Cook for 10 minutes and wait for the natural release to happen. If you are using a normal pan and dried lentils again add in the coconut milk, the curry leaves and the lentils and cook for 30 minutes. If you are using precooked lentils and a normal pan then cook for about 10 minutes.
8. Whilst the lentils are cooking, boil some water, take out 3 tablespoons and mix together all the ingredients for the sambol. Place the sambol to the side.
9. Once the lentils are cooked (check to make sure that they are soft), taste them. Add in some more garam masala or salt if you feel that you need to. Remove the lemongrass and the cinnamon stick at this stage if you want to.
10. Add in the lime juice and the spinach. Stir through until the spinach wilts.
11. Serve with brown basmati rice or chapati and top with the sambol you made in step 8.

 

 

Where does your protein come from?

It comes from the lentils which are high in protein. Also the combination of brown rice of wholegrain flour in the chapati together with the lentils gives you the entire range of essential amino acids that you need to form a complete protein.

To get more inspiration for healthy plant-based recipes please see our new nutrition and recipe book “Life” which is due to come out in 2022.