Whilst on holiday to the island of Hakuraa Huraa, part of the Maldives, I was served a chickpea and Lentil Dhal for lunch and it was delicious. I loved it so much I ordered it a few times over my stay on the island. I asked if I could have the recipe from the chef and he very kindly wrote it all out for me on a piece of paper. I love holidaying in the Maldives, because of it’s closeness to India the food is very heavily influenced by what that continent has to offer in the way of vegetarian and vegan cuisine
Lentil and Chickpea Dhal
Author: Tony Tomlinson
Recipe type: vegan
Cuisine: Indian
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Ingredients
- 250g (8oz) red lentils
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 45ml (3tbsp) tikka curry paste
- 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 x 400g tin reduced fat coconut milk
- 200g spinach
- 1 lemon, juiced
- To serve
- 2 x packs plain naan
Instructions
- Rinse and drain the lentils.
- Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic for a minute over a high heat. Stir in 3 tbsp curry paste and sizzle for another minute, then add the rinsed lentils and 1 tin chickpeas.
- Pour in the coconut milk, then fill the tin with water and add that, too.
- Bring to the boil and cook for about 30 minutes until the lentils are just done.
- Stir in the spinach to wilt, season and add the lemon juice. Serve with plain naan.
So where do dhals’s come from…Apparently, the first mention of this dal is made in the Mahabharata — while hiding out as a cook in King Virat’s kitchen, Bhim created the first panchratna dal by slow-cooking the mix of five dals in an earthen pot and garnishing it with a generous dollop of ghee.