This is one of our favourite Friday night dinner recipes for when we have energy to cook and want to have a large, sharing dinner. The roasted carrots add a delicious, earthy sweetness to the creamy coconut milk and red lentils. We love to make lots of sides to compliment this dish; big garlic flatbreads, homemade coriander chutney and roasted broccoli create a fantastic spread. You can freeze any leftovers for a busy weeknight dinner another time.
Serves 4 with sides & takes 45 minutes to cook
Ingredients
600g carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized batons
1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 red onion, peeled and diced
1 tablespoon of curry powder
1 teaspoon of paprika
250g red lentils
1x 400g can of coconut milk
300ml almond milk (or any kind of plant-based milk)
Large handful of spinach
Natural yoghurt (for serving)
Olive oil
Salt
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C, fan setting.
2. Place the sliced carrot onto a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of salt. Mix well and cook for 30-35 minutes until the carrots become soft, adding the garlic cloves in the last 10 minutes to roast. Once soft, remove from the oven and leave to cool a little.
3. While the carrots are cooking, place a large pan over a medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once warm, add the diced onion and a pinch of salt, and cook for 10 minutes until soft. Once the onions are soft, add the curry powder and paprika and cook for a few minutes to cook out the spices.
4. Stir through the red lentils and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the coconut milk. Mix well and cook for 20 minutes, stirring every so often to ensure the red lentils don’t stick to the bottom of the pan and adding a dash of almond milk bit by bit, if the mixture becomes too thick.
5. Once the roasted carrots have cooled a little, place half of them into a powerful blender and add a dash of almond milk. Blend until a smooth paste forms. Once blended, stir the carrot puree through the red lentil mixture and add any remaining almond milk.
6. Cook for another 10 minutes until the lentils become really soft. At this point, stir through the spinach and leave to wilt.
7. Serve the dal with a dollop of natural yoghurt mixed through and the remaining roasted carrots piled on top.
