Dreamy dhal

Dreamy dhal

Serves: 4

Time to make: 55 mins

Hands-on time: 15 mins

Ingredients

1 ¼ cups (250g) red lentils
1 cup light coconut milk (we used Trident)
¾ cup water
1 cup liquid salt-reduced vegetable stock
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
2 capsicums, diced
4 cups chopped fresh spinach
2 cups cauliflower florets
2 ½ teaspoons garam masala (see tips)
8 sprigs fresh coriandercilantroX
3 cups cooked basmati rice

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Instructions

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1 Place all ingredients except coriander in a saucepan.

2 Bring to the boil. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils are tender. Remove from heat and add coriander.

3 Serve with rice.

Variations

Just before serving, squeeze a lemon or a lime over the dhal for extra flavour.
Not everybody loves coriander — you can use parsley sprigs instead.
Frozen spinach will work if fresh spinach isn’t available.
Use leek when capsicums are not in season.
Experiment with more spices: add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon garlic, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, or all of them to create your own personal recipe.
Make it gluten free: Use gluten-free stock and check garam masala is gluten free.

HFG tip

Garam masala is a spice mixture found in-store in the baking aisle.
Dhal is the Hindi word for lentils.
Brown lentils have a mild earthy flavour, they take less than 30 minutes to cook and hold their shape when cooked.
Green lentils have a peppery flavour, take a long time to cook (45-60 minutes) and they retain their shape after cooking.
Red lentils range in colour from gold to orange to actual red, they taste the sweetest of all the varieties, take about 20 minutes to cook and get totally mushy when cooked through.

Nutrition Info (per serve)

Calories 455cal

Kilojoules 1819kJ

Protein 28g

Total fat 7g

–Saturated fat 5g

Carbohydrates 65g

–Sugars 15g

Dietary fibre 11g

Sodium 370mg

Calcium 130mg

Iron 7.5mg

Note: This nutrition analysis is a guide only. Nutrition composition will vary depending on the exact ingredients used. See our guides on your optimal daily nutrition intake, and supermarket shopping.