Lovely Green Lentil Dal with Cauliflower & Cashew Nuts

As you may know by now, I absolutely love a big bowl of comfort food. And whilst I admire any home cooks that are able to create beautifully presented fancy dishes, that's simply just not my style; I much prefer piling loads of yummy food into a bowl and tucking in without worrying too much about its appearance. This lovely green lentil dal really represents my cooking style due to the fact it really doesn't matter what it looks like because it tastes so good!

This dish is packed with flavour - you've got sweetness from the cashew nuts, tanginess from the tomatoes, a little heat from the mustard seeds and of course a lovely nutty and earthy taste from the green lentils. It's also verrry filling - we could barely finish our portions because we were so full up! Lentil dal is also the perfect dish to pop in the fridge for the next day too as it's just as lovely when it's reheated. Check out the step-by-step clip on YouTube below, and keep on reading for the full ingredient list and method!

Ingredients:

• One green chilli

• Two tablespoons of coconut oil

• One tablespoon of garlic paste

• One tablespoon of ginger paste

• 175 grams of dried lentils - I used green but red lentils work just as well, so use whichever you prefer!

• One teaspoon of ground turmeric

• One head or ten small florets of cauliflower

• One teaspoon of garam masala

• One teaspoon of mustard seeds

• One teaspoon of cumin seeds

• Six to eight cherry tomatoes

• 60 grams of unsalted cashew nuts - these add a lovely sweetness to the dish

• 100 grams of baby spinach

• A splash of lemon juice

• Salt & pepper to season (as always!)

Method:

1. Start off by finely chopping your green chilli - deseed if you don't want the dish too spicy!

2. Then melt one tablespoon of the coconut oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat

3. Chuck in your garlic & garlic pastes along with the chopped chilli and cook for around a minute

4. Next throw in your lentils and turmeric, giving everything a good stir - make sure that the lentils are coated well with the turmeric so they turn bright yellow!

5. Pour in enough cold water so that the lentils are covered by at least five centimetres, then give it another good stir

6. Bring the pan to the boil, then lower to a low-medium heat and leave to simmer for around half an hour, stirring every five minutes or so

7. Meanwhile, chop your head of cauliflower - if you're using fresh - into small florets (if you're using frozen, grab about ten florets of similar sizes) and pop to one side

8. Spoon the rest or the coconut oil into a bowl and heat in the microwave until melted (I usually just zap for 30 seconds)

9. Grab the melted oil out of the microwave and spoon your garam masala, mustard seeds & cumin seeds into the bowl, then stir together

10. Next, dip each cauliflower floret into the seasoned oil mixture, lay onto a baking tray, then pop in a preheated oven (220c / Gas Mark 7) for fifteen minutes

11. Whilst that's cooking, chop your cherry tomatoes and pop to the side

12. After the fifteen minutes is up, scatter the cashew nuts onto the same baking tray as the cauliflower and put it back in the oven for another ten minutes

13. Add your tomatoes and spinach to the saucepan of daal and stir well

14. Once the spinach wilts you can add the splash of lemon juice and pinch of salt & pepper

15. Take the dal off the heat, spoon into bowls, scatter the cauliflower & cashew nuts on top and tuck in to this bowl of deliciousness!

This lovely green lentil dal dish is, to me, one of the most delicious comfort foods I've made. As I said above, it's truly packed with flavour and is pretty healthy too. Although it is a bit of a longer recipe, it still only takes about 45 minutes to do all your prep and cook the dish. You could make it of an evening for dinner, or pre-cook it and store it in the fridge for the next day's lunch. As usual I omitted the chilli seeds (because I'm a wuss) but if you like spicy food I recommend keeping them in or using a hotter type of chilli.

You could also make this dal without the cashews and cauliflower, however I do think they add some lovely flavours that complement the rest of the dish. As usual, I made enough for two people, but as I said the portions were quite big so it could even serve three. In the past I've quite often had dal as a side dish, so perhaps you could make another yummy Indian dish like this paneer saag aloo and whip up a green lentil dal to have on the side!

Let me know what you think of this recipe, and whether you're going to give it a try! Stay tuned for more delicious recipes coming your way soon.