75g red lentils, rinsed and picked over
400ml vegetable stock
1 small onion, diced
2 tomatoes, finely chopped
½ teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon garam masala
Pinch of chilli flakes
Approx. 20 curry leaves
2 x tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Half a medium size butternut pumpkin, peeled
3-4 large silverbeet leaves, washed and roughly torn
Small bunch of fresh coriander, stems roughly sliced into 1cm lengths
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium size saucepan. Add diced onion and cook until translucent. Add turmeric, garam masala, chilli flakes and curry leaves and cook for another couple of minutes. Add rinsed lentils, chopped tomatoes and stock and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes until lentils are tender.
In the meantime, dice the pumpkin into 2cm cubes. Heat a saute pan on medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Add pumpkin cubes and fry, turning every now and then to brown and slightly blacken the pumpkin on all sides. It won’t matter if the pumpkin is still firm as it will cook a little more when added to the lentil dahl. Remove from heat.
Add the pumpkin, torn silverbeet leaves and chopped coriander stems to the lentil dahl. Cover with a lid and warm on a low heat for approximately 10 minutes. If the dahl gets a little too thick add a little water to thin it down a bit. Once silverbeet has wilted down and pumpkin is soft removed from heat.
Serve with brown rice, topped with the fresh coriander leaves and nigella seeds.
Serves 2.
