15-MINUTE BLACK DHAL

This is a shortcut recipe for a quick, creamy, deeply flavoursome dhal. Traditional black dhal uses black urad dhal (lentils), but cooking those from scratch takes a long time. So we’ve swapped them for precooked puy lentils, which means you can get lunch on the table in 15 minutes.

SERVES 2 TIME

15 minutes 1 tbsp olive oil

1 medium red onion, finely chopped

small chunk of ginger (about 20g/2cm), peeled and finely chopped

1 long green chilli, finely chopped

250g pack of cooked puy lentils or 400g tin of green lentils, drained and rinsed

1 heaped tbsp tomato purée

125ml coconut cream, plus extra to serve

2 tsp medium curry powder

2 large handfuls of spinach (about 100g) juice of ½ lemon

½ bunch of coriander (about 10g-15g), roughly chopped

sea salt 1 Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Set aside about a third of each of the chopped onion, ginger and chilli, then add the remainder to the pan. Cook for 8-10 minutes, until soft and fragrant.

2 While the onion is cooking, put 2 tablespoons of lentils, the tomato purée, coconut cream, curry powder and a pinch of salt in a food processor or mini chopper and blitz to a smooth paste.

3 Add the paste to the onions and cook for another minute, then add the remaining lentils and 200ml of boiling water. Bring to a simmer then add the spinach and lemon juice, stirring until the spinach has wilted. Taste to check the seasoning and adjust as needed.

4 Divide the dhal between serving bowls and scatter over the reserved onion, ginger and chilli, followed by the roughly chopped coriander, a pinch of salt and an extra spoonful of coconut cream.

TIP If you don’t have any coconut cream, swap it for coconut yogurt, stirring it all in at the end.