I've only recently got into lentils. My suspicion was that they would be tasteless and dull. I could not be more wrong.
My first foray was with puy lentils, both with sausages and duck. Delicious. Now, with my love of Indian food, surely the obvious next step was daal? On my various travels around India, I honestly don't remember eating daal, which seems impossible.
I've made several version, with different types of pulses, but this is the first and still my favourite.
The addition of the butternut squash gives a lovely sweetness and much of it tends to melt into the sauce. The lentils should be deliciously creamy and the coconut milk gives a lovely gloss.
If you want to make it more non-veg, you could add some chicken about 20mins before it's ready, but it really doesn't need it - in fact I found it distracts from the beautiful richness of the daal.
Ingredients:
75g green lentils, rinsed
75g red lentils, rinsed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1tsp garlic purée
1 tsp ginger purée
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp cayenne
½ tsp asafoetida
½ tsp cinnamon
375 ml chicken (or vegetable) stock
200g canned chopped tomatoes
200g butternut squash, cubed
200 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp muscavado sugar
½ tsp garam masala
How to make it:
1. Rinse the lentils at least 3 times with cold water.
2. Heat some oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion, stirring, for at least 15mins until they start to brown.
3. Add the spices [except the garam masala], garlic and ginger and stir through until the spices release their fragrance. Don't let them burn - add a few spalshes of water if need be.
4. Add the lentils and stir for a few minutes until they're coated in the spices.
5. Add the stock and bring to the boil.
6. Stir in the tomato and butternut squash, then cover and cook over a very low heat on the hob for two hours, stirring every now and again.
7. Mash a few of the lentils against the side of the pan with a spoon to thicken the sauce.
8. Stir in the sugar and garam masala. Add the coconut milk a few spoonfuls at a time, allowing it to absorb into the lentils before you add more. This will take about another 10-15mins.
9. Taste and check the flavour, adding salt, sugar or some extra coconut milk as needed.
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