Darl’s Daal
Servings: 4
This is my good mate Jane ‘Grylltown’ Grylls’ daal recipe, and she has one of the best palates in the biz, as you’ll taste when you make this. Add extra veg for more colour and texture, too; anything in the bottom of the crisper will get a new lease on life bathed in this rich, coconut-y soup. In the colder months, Jane likes to cook the daal at 170°C (325°F) for an hour or two in the oven to keep her house in country Victoria warm, while eliminating the need for stirring. ‘Double bonus!’ is what she calls it.
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Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50 g 1¾ oz butter
- 1 brown onion diced
- 2 large garlic cloves grated
- 1.5 cm ⅝ inch piece of fresh ginger grated
- 1 bunch coriander (cilantro) stems rinsed well, then finely chopped (reserve the leaves for serving)
- 300 g 10½ oz pumpkin (squash), cubed
- 200 g 7 oz sweet potato chopped into 1 cm (½ inch) discs or chunks
- 1 tbsp ground turmeric or about 2 tablespoons fresh, if available
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- a pinch of chilli powder
- 2 curry leaf branches about 20 curry leaves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 bay leaves
- 400 ml 14 fl oz tin coconut milk
- 400 g 14 oz tin tomatoes (optional)
- 1 cup 200 g split red lentils rinsed
- 2 cups 500 ml vegetable stock
- 50 g 1¾ oz palm sugar (jaggery) grated
- juice of ½ lemon
- 100 g 3½ oz baby spinach leaves
- 1 cup 150 g frozen or fresh peas
- plain yoghurt to serve
- sliced red chillies to serve
- lemon wedges to serve
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil and butter in a large flameproof casserole dish. Add the onion and sauté over medium– low heat with the lid on for about 8–10 minutes, until the onion turns translucent, then add the garlic, ginger and coriander stems and give it all a good stir.
- Add the pumpkin, sweet potato, spices, curry leaves, cinnamon and bay leaves. Stir for another few minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with the coconut milk (and tomatoes, if using), thoroughly scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir in the lentils, stock, palm sugar and 1 cup (250 ml) water.
- Bring to the boil, giving everything a considered stir every now and then, and simmer for 20–25 minutes, until the lentils have broken down and become creamy rather than chalky, and the sweet potato is fork-tender.
- Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves. Stir in the lemon juice, then check the flavour balance, adding salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
- Just before serving, add the spinach and peas and cook for a final 2 minutes, until the peas are just cooked and the spinach has wilted.
- Serve topped with a dollop of yoghurt, sliced chilli and the reserved coriander leaves, with lemon wedges. This daal also freezes really well, so portion any leftovers into packs for the freezer.
Notes
Shortcut
Simmer the lentils separately in 4 cups (1 litre) filtered water or stock for 25 minutes. Meanwhile, sweat the onion in another saucepan. Grate the pumpkin and sweet potato and add the onion with the spices and other daal ingredients, then combine together once the lentils have cooked.
Go vegan
Use coconut oil and coconut yoghurt instead of butter and yoghurt.
Double duty
Use a stick blender to blitz the daal into a spiced lentil and veg soup.
Recipe from In Praise of Veg (Murdoch Books)
