I quickly wanted to post this very simple weeknight recipe for a very nutritious and delicious dahl made with French lentils. I love cooking with French Puy Lentils, because they cook up easily and have a great, peppery taste.
I used mustard to spice up these lentils. While mustard is used often enough in Indian cooking, I used it a little differently here than I usually do: I ground it up before adding it.
Mustard adds a spicy, almost slightly sour punch to the curry, and I couldn't have been happier.The addition of spinach makes this curry even healthier.
Feel free to substitute other greens, including watercress.
Here's the recipe. Enjoy, everyone!
More vegan dal recipes
- Cauliflower Dal with Ginger
- Spinach Kootu or Keerai Kootu
- Zucchini Kootu
- Black-Eyed Peas Dal
- Usal (Sprouted Beans Curry)
French Lentil Dal
French Lentils Spiked with Mustard
Ingredients
- 1 cup puy lentils (can substitute with whole green lentils or Masoor)
- 12 oz spinach (thaw if using frozen spinach)
- 1 onion (thinly sliced)
- 4-5 cloves garlic (thinly sliced)
- 1 large tomato (diced)
- 2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (ground into a powder in a food processor of coffee grinder)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or any neutral oil
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- ½ teaspoon turmeric (optional)
Instructions
- Cover the lentils with water, bring to a boil, cover with a lid and simmer until the lentils are tender, about 1 hour. I do this in a pressure cooker, but you can do this on the stove-top or in the microwave.
- Heat the oil in a saucepan.
- Add the cumin seeds and, when they sputter, add the sliced onions.
- Saute the onions until translucent, then add the garlic. Stir-fry for another minute.
- Add the spinach and saute for another 3-4 minutes. You want the spinach to have completely thawed before adding the remaining ingredients.
- Add tomatoes, chilli powder, turmeric and mustard-seed powder. Stir together for about a minute.
- Add the cooked lentils and stir in.
- Add salt to taste. Bring the curry to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for five minutes.
- Serve hot with rice or chapatis.
Love this puy lentils dal? Check out more vegan Indian recipes at Holy Cow Vegan!
Sarah
Wonderful soup with a medley of great flavours.
switsawa
You are a blessing! It is so great to have vegan versions of such excellent food! I made this recipe today (AWESOME!) and will be making many more of your dishes (carrot halwa is next!) in the very near future.
switsawa
You are a blessing. I have always loved Indian food, but been in a dilemma as I'm trying to take the next step from vegetarian to vegan...I've tried several times without success, unfortunately. Just made this recipe (AWESOME) and will be making many more (especially the carrot halwa!!) very soon!