Red Lentil Dal (Western Style)

I love dal, it’s one of my favourite vegetarian dishes (in fact any dishes, full stop). It’s hearty, full of flavour, filling, and easy to make. This particular one is not made in the traditional way, as in India there would not be any coconut milk or tinned tomatoes in the ingredients list. However, I liked the idea of the creaminess of the coconut milk and the subtle sweet flavour it would provide.

Ingredients:

• 200g red lentils, rinsed and drained
• Glug of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 2 red chillies, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 x 400ml tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 500ml vegetable stock
• Salt and pepper
• Juice of half a lemon
• 2 handfuls fresh spinach, washed and chopped

Method:

Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook gently for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and red chilli and cook for a few minutes.

Mix the cumin, coriander and mustard in a small bowl and add to the pan, along with the turmeric and garam masala and cook for 1 minute. Add the lentils, tomatoes, coconut milk and stock, then stir to combine.

Season with salt and pepper and cook on a low heat for 25-30 minutes until reduced and thick. Stir in the lemon juice and spinach, then cook for a further 5 minutes.

Serve with rice, naan bread or rotis and poppadoms!

 

Vegetarian Garlic Paneer Curry

I think this has to be my favourite curry I’ve made to date. I’ve cooked up quite a few different types of these spicy, saucy dishes including from Indian, Sri Lankan, West Indian and Thai cuisines; using coconut milk, tomato, cream and yogurt based sauces, and this perfectly balanced combination of tomato and coconut milk is something really special.

Another thing that makes this super delicious is the simplicity of ingredients used. I think often you can end up chucking in a such a multitude of spices and vegetables that the whole dish ends up becoming a bit confused, but this recipe uses just two spices (plus garlic) to create a balanced flavour, one main vegetable (aubergine) for the softness in texture and then the paneer adds a bit of bite.

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 16 large cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
• 1.5 cups paneer cubes (or tofu for a vegan version)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 aubergine, cubed
• 3/4 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400g can reduced fat coconut milk (again, sauce preference dependent)
• 2-3 hot chillies, chopped
• Salt to taste
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter

Method:

Heat a tbsp of oil in a large saucepan. Place the paneer cubes and brown them until golden (about 2-3 mins). Once done, set them aside.

Add another tbsp of oil in the pan. Add about 9/10 of the garlic and the onions. Sauté them until they soften and turn translucent. Add the tomatoes, chillies and turmeric and cook for another minute.

Transfer the sautéed mixture to a bowl and blend.

Add 2 tbsp oil into the pan and cook the aubergine until softened. Add the garam masala and cook with the aubergine for a minute, then add back the blended mixture and salt. Cook for another minute.

Pour in the coconut milk and mix well. Add the golden cheese cubes and let them simmer in the curry for a couple of minutes.

Sauté the remaining two cloves of garlic in a tbsp of butter and drizzle over the curry to finish.

Serve with rice or chapatis.