Dhal poached eggs with herby raita
Beans and pulses like lentils and chickpeas are rich in protein, iron and fibre. In our take on dhal, we’ve combined them with eggs for a nutrient-rich meal.
SERVES 4 PREP 10 mins COOK 35 mins EASY V
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
2 onions (320g), halved and thinly
sliced
2 tsp each cumin seeds and
turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tbsp garam masala
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 red chilli, deseeded and sliced 175g red lentils
400g can chickpeas
2 tsp vegetable bouillon powder
mixed with 700ml boiling water 320g baby spinach 8 large eggs
For the raita
150g natural bio yogurt
1 garlic clove very thin slice of fresh ginger 20g coriander leaves, plus a few
extra leaves to serve (optional) 10g mint leaves
1 Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and fry the onions for 5 mins until they start to colour. Stir in the spices, garlic and chilli, and cook for a few more seconds until aromatic.
2 Add the lentils, chickpeas and stock, then cook, uncovered, for 15 mins until the lentils are tender. Stir in the spinach until wilted.
3 Remove half the dhal from the pan and leave to cool. Will keep chilled for up to three days. Break 4 eggs, spaced apart, into the lentils that are left in the pan, cover and cook over a medium heat for 8-10 mins.
4 Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the raita in a bowl and blitz together using a hand blender. 5 Serve the eggs and dhal with half the raita and scatter over a few extra coriander leaves, if you like. The remaining raita will keep chilled for up to three days. Reheat the dhal in a pan over a medium heat until bubbling. Add a drop of water if it looks dry, then cook the eggs in the hot dhal as described in step 3 and serve with the remaining raita.
GOOD TO KNOW healthy • calcium • folate • fibre •
vit c • iron • 4 of 5-a-day
PER SERVING 560 kcals • fat 22g • saturates 5g •
carbs 46g • sugars 10g • fibre 10g • protein 38g •
salt 1.6g