Easy Eats: Red Lentil, Spinach and Tomato Dhal

Kelly Gibney serves up this versatile and nutritious dish most weeks in the colder half of the year.

Kelly GibneyChef
  • prepare
  • cook
  • 4-6 servings
  • Easy
Red lentil, spinach and tomato dhal.
Caption:Kelly Gibney's red lentil, spinach and tomato dhal.Photo credit:Kelly Gibney

This tasty dhal is our family workhorse recipe. Enjoy it with warm Indian flatbread on the side, top with a poached egg or serve with your favourite protein. The dhal will freeze wonderfully, making it perfect for winter batch cooking.

You could use frozen spinach instead of fresh in here. Thaw almost entirely and then squeeze excess moisture out before adding. Peas are another tasy and easy vegetable addition.

If you have a little bit of this left over you can create a quick soup by thinning it out with some stock and a squeeze of lemon juice. Top with pan-fried tofu or roasted cauliflower and toasted seeds.

I like making fritters with this as a base. I add a couple of eggs and 1/3 cup of self-raising flour to a cup of the dhal. Fry heaped tablespoons in a hot, well-oiled pan. Lovely topped with avocado, chutney and salad.

Ingredients

  • Olive oil or ghee for sautéing
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely diced
  • 2 Tbsp finely grated ginger root
  • 1 Tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 Tbsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 cups split red lentils
  • 1 x 400g can coconut milk
  • 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
  • 2 ½ cups water
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
  • 1 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
  • 120g (1 bag) baby spinach
  • Sea salt and cracked black pepper
  • To serve: plain yoghurt or coconut yoghurt, warmed roti or naan

Instructions

  1. Heat a generous glug of oil in a large pot over a medium-low heat. Cook the onion until tender and translucent. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a further minute or so. Add the spices. Give these a minute or two in the pan to become fragrant. Add a splash of oil if the pan is dry.
  2. Add the lentils, coconut milk, tomatoes, water and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are tender and the texture is thickened.
  3. Stir through the baby spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes until softened. Add the lemon juice and season (generously) to taste.

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