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 tsp black mustard seeds (ground into a powder in a food processor of coffee grinder)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp cumin seeds
- 1 tsp cayenne
- ½ tsp 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 lentils-spinach mixture 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.
Nutrition
Love this puy lentils dal? Check out more vegan Indian recipes at Holy Cow Vegan!
Wonderful soup with a medley of great flavours.