Spiced dhal

Name: Spiced dhal
Yield: Makes 6–8 portions
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 1 x 400 g tin of plum tomatoes (or 400 g fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped); 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp coriander seeds; sea salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 tsp curry powder or garam masala; 1 fresh green chilli, finely chopped; 1 tsp grated fresh root ginger; 1 tsp ground turmeric; 1 small cinnamon stick; 1 tsp black mustard or nigella seeds; handful of baby spinach, 1–2 eggs; 2 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil; 3 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil; 1.2 litres water or vegetable/chicken stock; 500 g red lentils, rinsed; 4 green cardamom pods, bruised; 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped; ½ small unwaxed lemon; naan bread

Preparation info

Makes
6–8 portions

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Solo

By Signe Johansen

Published 2018

About

The first time I had a really transformative bowl of dhal was courtesy of author and television judge/critic Simon Majumdar. While he calls his recipe ‘life-saving dahl’ (LSD) I can’t claim mine has any hallucinogenic properties, but it does work wonders when you’re feeling a little low, beset by the sniffles or just exhausted by the pace of modern life.