Warm & Cozy Red Lentil Curry Dahl Recipe

Brace yourself, we're about to get sentimental. Dahl (or Dal, or Daal) is the first semi-complicated dish I made from completely whole ingredients, after my wife's friend posted a picture of it on Instagram and she said "let's try making that!" This was my gateway drug between boxed cooking and whole cooking, and I would be honoured for other aspiring home cooks to follow in my footsteps.

Combining aromatic and earthy spices with fresh tomato and hearty lentils, this vegetarian dish blurs the line between eating healthy and needing comfort food - add in some dried fenugreek and you'll be eager to return to it all week.

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This is a great red lentil curry recipe that I return to every few weeks - it's quick to put together, it's packed with nutrients, and it tastes so fresh and comforting that I don't get tired of eating it by the end of the week. Try it out, and let me know if I'm wrong.

This will call for a laundry-list of ingredients you might not (but should going forward!) have, but great news! I have tons of recipes that will call for the same spices, so you'll get your use out of them.

This process involves blooming (or tempering) your spices, which means frying them in oil first to unlock some extra flavour and also transfer some more punch to the oil (which then transfers it through the dish). Blooming whole spices is less risky, you need about 60-90 seconds of heat to get through - but ground spices have a very high surface area, and can burn very quickly. Burnt spices taste only of bitter and sadness, so make sure you start putting cold ingredients in the pan and mixing before the 30-second mark after ground spices are added to a hot pan.

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp ghee or clarified butter (or substitute light vegetable-based oil)

• 4 garlic cloves (based on your preference)

• 1/2-inch square of ginger minced or finely grated

• 2 medium onions, diced

• 2 hot peppers (cayenne, jalapeno, anything substantial - scotch bonnets will do you no favours)

• 2 medium tomatoes, diced

• 2 cups rinsed red lentils

• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 tsp ground)

• 2 tsp cumin seeds (or 1 tsp ground)

• 1 tsp coriander

• 1 tsp cardamom

• 2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp red chili powder (not chili mix, read the ingredient label - a lot of chili mixes are some chili powder with paprika, salt, garlic, etc.)

• 1 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp garam masala

• 1-2 lemon (for garnish, I usually pre-slice and pack them for the week)

Directions

• Rinse lentils under cold water, and add to a medium pot.

• Add the package-recommended amount of water.

• Boil until lentils are soft and the water is absorbed, can be 10-30 minutes depending on age and quality of lentils.

• Heat ghee in a large pan. Add whole spices and stir for approx. 60 seconds, until fragrant.

• Add ground spices and stir for approx. 10 seconds - caution as ground spices will burn within 30 seconds. At the 10 second mark, add garlic and ginger. Garlic and ginger count as spices. Stir.

• Add your onions and stir intermittently for 3-5 minutes, until they soften and begin to turn translucent.

• Add hot peppers and tomatoes, intermittently stirring for another 3-5 minutes until tomatoes begin to break apart and a sauce begins to form at the bottom of the pan.

• When the lentils are finished cooking, stir them into the gravy pan. Taste and adjust spices to your preference. Remove the cinnamon stick before serving.

• Serve with a lemon wedge and cilantro or dried fenugreek leaves for a fresh seasoning.

Serve with either plain rice, or an aromatic veggie pulao.

Check out the video walkthrough for tips and tricks!