April means stowing the knitwear and stewing the dhal.
For me, April means stowing my 100 denier tights and woolly knits away to the back of the wardrobe, and upping my vegetable intake. This super easy one-pot dhal is my favourite, partly because it relies on a lot of the ingredients usually hidden away in my freezer and kitchen cupboards, but also because it’s delicious and only takes 30 minutes to make. It tastes even better after a few hours, or days, in the fridge.
Ingredients:
250g red lentils
1-2 sweet potatoes, cut into chunks
1 can coconut milk (optional)
As many frozen peas as you like
1 onion – diced
4 garlic cloves – crushed or grated
Handful of cherry tomatoes
Handful of spinach
½ tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tbsp garam masala
2 tbsp oil (coconut, olive, sunflower, whatever works!)
In a saucepan fry the garlic in the oil until lightly brown before adding the spices and onion for another five minutes. Add the lentils and sweet potato to the saucepan then pour boiling water on to the lentils so that they are submerged by about 5-7cm water. Boil for ten minutes. Remove the foam with a spoon before reducing the heat and adding the coconut milk and tomatoes. Allow the dhal to simmer for another 20 minutes and throw in the spinach and peas a few minutes before serving. Season to taste!
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