Throughout the school holidays I always have the urge to bake and overindulge. After a few days of snacking on cookies, dreaming of pancakes and eating a rich, valentine’s dinner last night I’ve felt the need to have a few healthy days eating lots of vegetables and practicing lots of yoga. It’s also probably my subconscious worrying about heading back to the stress of school next week, and making the most of the free time!
So for lunch today, after a spot of yoga with my bunny Darwin (he was 3 yesterday, little D. Valentino!), I trialled a homemade lentil dhal using a range of spices. I always have lentils in the cupboard for emergency soup-making, so this was easy to make from all the ingredients I had at home. Before starting the low FODMAP diet, my favourite takeaway curry was always a tarka dhal, and I’ve never attempted to make it as I wasn’t sure I could ever do it justice without the all important onion and garlic. But since gaining confidence using garlic-infused oil, I thought I’d give it a try. The recipe is below. let me know what you think!
Ingredients
200g red lentils
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp crushed chillies
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground ginger
100g cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp garlic-infused oil (I use Waitrose’s for low FODMAP)
basmati rice to serveMethod
To begin, place the lentils in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, add the turmeric, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
While the lentils cook, toast the cumin seeds in a frying pan for a few minutes (I saved a few to sprinkle on the top as I was out of fresh coriander). Then add the garlic oil, crushed chillies, ground coriander, ground ginger, garam masala and cherry tomatoes and fry for around 5 minutes or until the tomatoes soften.
Once the lentils are cooked and resemble a porridge texture (you may need to add more water as cooking time can vary between 10-20 minutes depending on the lentils you use), stir in the spices and the tomatoes.
Serve with white (basmati rice) and enjoy!
Leave a Reply