Although I wasn’t a fan of spicy food as a kid, daal was one of my favourite Indian dishes. It can be prepared to your liking, from very bland to mouth burning hot. Serving it with naan bread can cut the spice and make it a lot more interesting, although it goes quite well with rice and curry.

This is an easy meal to make, and vegetarian.

Ingredients:

• 100g (4oz) brown lentils
• 1 cup water
• 1 green chili, sliced small
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp coriander powder
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 garlic clove, chopped small

Directions:

Rinse the lentils, and then pour the lentils and water into a pot and bring to a boil.

Add the chili, salt, tomatoes, turmeric, and coriander. Simmer until the lentils are very soft, at least 30-40min. Turn the heat down very low and beat or mash the daal until fairly smooth.

In another pan, melt the butter and fry the garlic for 3-5 minutes (don’t burn). Pour over the daal.

Options

• You can replace some of the brown lentils with red lentils to change the taste and help it cook faster.
• If you replace the butter with a cooking oil or soy margarine, this could be a vegan dish.

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