lentil dal recipe

Soulful, Comforting Red Lentil Dal with Sweet Potatoes and a flavorful "tempering oil". A quick 30 minute meal that is simple to make and full of fragrant Indian spices. Vegan!

Lentil Dal with Sweet Potatoes 

red lentils (split lentils)

tablespoons ghee, or olive oil

yellow onion, diced

grated (or minced) fresh ginger

garlic – minced

cumin seeds (or substitute ground cumin)

Garam Masala Spice

fenugreek leaves

salt

honey

bay leaves

serrano chili pepper, (or jalapeño) slit down the side vertically (optional)

sweet potato

water

tomatoes,

cilantro leaves scallions

Flaked coconut- optional

ghee, or coconut oil

cumin seeds

fennel seeds

black mustard seeds (optional, but amazing)

curry leaves (optional, but doubly amazing.)

Rinse lentils and soak in a bowl of water.

In a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch over, heat oil over medium high heat.

Saute onion for 2-3 minutes, stirring, then add ginger. Saute two more minutes, then add garlic and turn heat to medium. Add spices, salt, bay leaves and chili. Stir for another minute letting spices toast, then add honey, and sweet potatoes.

Strain lentils and add to the pot, along with water and tomatoes. Give a stir, bring to boil, cover, and turn heat down, and let gently simmer, about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, uncover and check consistency, If watery, continue to simmer uncovered until it reduces and becomes thicker.

Adjust salt,

adding more to your taste, keeping in mind you want this to be slightly salty if serving over rice.

Make tempering oil to drizzle over top:  heat oil or ghee over medium high heat, add seeds and curry leaves and swirl or stir until you hear popping, about 30- 45 seconds. Turn heat off. Spoon it over the dal, after plating it up.

Serve with toasted naan bread, or basmati rice, garnishing with cilantro and flaked coconut.

Such a great dish! Absolutely dahliscious. So  quick and easy to make with ability to use whole spices and just some chopping. The tempered oil gives it a real restaurant quality.
Thanks for the recipe!

One of my go-to recipes, true comfort food.

Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! It is delicious!

This recipe is just fabulous and so amazingly easy.   My taste buds are doing a happy dance!  Thank you!!

Such a delicious dish! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!

This was so delicious!  Run the cooktop fan, or the remaining cooking odors will linger.

This dish is easy to make and delicious!! It has become a family favorite. Good idea to make extra. It’s even better the second day.

Outstanding! Simple and delicious. Perfect for a chilly late fall supper.

Cauliflower Dal with Coconut and Spinach made with split red lentils and fragrant Indian spices. A healthy comforting, plant-based dinner recipe. Vegan-adaptable. (Inspired by Minimalist Baker)

Golden Cauliflower Dal with Spinach and Coconut 

lentils

tablespoons ghee (or

coriander seeds, crushed

black mustard seeds

shallots,

garlic cloves, finely chopped

ginger, grated or finely minced (or use ginger paste)

chilies

yellow curry powder

turmeric powder

full-fat coconut milk

baby spinach

Cover the split lentils with 2 cups boiling water, set aside.

In an extra-large saute pan or Dutch oven, heat the ghee over medium heat, add the crushed coriander seeds, mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and stir for one minute.

Add the shallots, garlic and ginger and optional chilies, and saute until fragrant and golden, lowering the heat to med-low, if need be, about 5 minutes. Add the curry powder and turmeric. Stir in the lentils along with the 2 cups of hot water. Add the salt and fenugreek. Give a good stir.

Add the coconut milk and stir to incorporate, then add the cauliflower florets, coating them well. Give the pan a shake to allow any lentils to slip back into the liquid. Increase heat, bring to a simmer, cover, and simmer gently over med-low heat, until lentils are softened and cauliflower is fork-tender, about 10 minutes.

Remove lid and let some of the liquid cook off, about 3-4 more minutes. Carefully stir in spinach.  Taste, adjust seasonings. Add a squeeze of lemon if you like.

Garnish with cilantro or scallions and if you made the extra tempering oil ( see notes), spoon this over top before serving.

Serve with naan bread or basmati rice, or on its own in a bowl like a stew.

Made this last night and it was so good. A very comforting dish. Happy New Year!

This turned out delicious, wouldn't change a thing. We made our own ghee for this which was surprisingly easy and the flavors were subtle, yet satisfying. When you make ghee do you use salted or unsalted butter?

Loved it! Blend of the red lentils and cauliflower, with the spices in coconut milk resulted in unique flavors. Being of Indian origin, our staple diet is Indian, however, we had not tasted such distinct flavors - it was truly refreshing. Thank you, Sylvia!

Really enjoyed this! I recently stocked my indian spice cabinet, so I had everything except yellow curry. I used a very generic garam masala instead - I think this is why my recipe came out very mild. But I loved it anyway! The cauli and coconut combo w lentils is soothing and satistfying, and for me, a successful recipe is one that is forgiving if I don't have every exact ingredient, and flexible enough to customize (i added carrots, because I love them!). This fits the bill. Thank you for a keeper!

I just made this for dinner, it’s delicious! I will definitely make this again

Delicious.  Best recipe for cauliflower I have ever  made.  Full of flavor.  Has the yum factor I'm always looking for.  Didn't use peppers, but will try next time.

Wow the best cauliflower curry I’ve ever had. The lentils was a perfect pairing. We loved it and even my 3 yr old cleaned her plate.
I did the lemon, no peppers but my husband and I put in some red pepper flakes to get it spicier for us. Yum!

I was very excited to do this recipe. I thought that it miss some flavour. I had 2 teaspoon of honey and add alot of salt. Next time, I'll grill my cornflower in the even with some cumin in it before add it to my pot and maybe double some seeds.

It was delicious :) pretty sure it will taste better tomorrow !

This recipe was great! It came together quickly and was hearty, healthy comfort food. I added chickpeas and used cauliflower rice (cooked separately) instead of florets based on what I had on-hand. I loved toasting extra spices to add to the top for extra flavor and crunch. We will definitely make this again!

This recipe is brilliant. I roasted the cauliflower and added at the end. I also upped the spice and cooked the lentils a bit longer. Other than that, unchanged. Served with yogurt and flatbread. So so good. Thank you for this. Will become a regular,

I love this recipe.  It was fast and delicious.  I did roast the cauliflower first and I spiced it up a bit.  It is a definite keeper.

Made this for my family as my first ever Indian dish! My dad makes a lot of curries and he was very impressed.

This is amazing! My teenagers could not get enough - ate 2-3 bowls each and more tonight. We have LOVED every recipe from this site. Thank you!!

I was so excited to try this when I saw it was released,  and it totally lived up to expectation!! Flavours are wonderful and the tip of doubling the whole spices to use as tempered oil is a definite must. It really lifts it.  Yet another winner for us from Feasting at Home.  Thanks again,  Sylvia!

Very nice, but too mild as written.  Needs about twice the amount of all spices, especially if you don't use the spiced ghee (I don't want the extra calories.) I used 4 red Thai peppers, but it still needed more heat so I put in a little hot curry powder.  Lovely appearance &amp; texture.

Super easy to make even for an amateur like myself. My boyfriend is a chef for a living and I knew we had all those whole spices laying around. Then after I started making it, I realized that we only had fenugreek seeds rather than leaves. I crushed them up and tossed them in the pan before adding the lentils so I hope that I was able to get the same flavor! Either way it turned out very tasty.

Just finished a bowl of this deliciousness!!  I subbed 2 cans garbanzos for lentils, added a bit more curry powder, and didn't have the fennel or fenugreek.  All my other spices were already ground.  But hey, it was awesome!!  Thanks!  Just found your website and I see sooooo many things I want to make.

Another FABULOUS recipe! I had everything but the fenugreek - and it was still delicious. Thank you SO much.

This is one of the best home-made curries I've ever made (and I absolutely love Indian food).  I skipped the fenugreek leaves and substituted spinach for kale and it was gorgeous.  This spice combination will be my go-to for future recipes when I need to use up some veggies.

Fantastic recipe.  My husband who usually turns up his nose at anything without meat absolutely loved it.  I did need to simmer for slightly longer to get my cauliflower tender but all the flavours were spot on.

I added fenugreek seeds instead of leaves as that’s what I had.

Delicious, followed the recipe but added the juice of a lime and some extra chilli and curry powder, to boost the flavour a bit.

Fantastic recipe.  My husband who usually turns up his nose at anything without meat absolutely loved it.  I did need to simmer for slightly longer to get my cauliflower tender but all the flavours were spot on.

https://content.jwplatform.com/videos/y01bGF82.mp4

Golden Cauliflower Dal with Spinach, Red Lentils and Coconut, a gently spiced Indian stew that is warming and comforting. Video!

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Lentil Dal with Sweet Potatoes

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Top 2 lentil dal recipe recipes from across the web

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Lentil Dal with Sweet Potatoes

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The most viewed lentil dal recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine