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Dinner recipe

Tomato Coconut Lentil Dal with Spinach and Rice

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Red lentils in a tomato-coconut sauce with spinach, served with lime and coriander rice.

Start planningStart cookingIngredients
80 min750 kcal4 base servingsDinnerDalVeganBudget Friendly
ContainsGluten
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Recipe and nutrition estimates

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Focus ingredients: red lentils, coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, baby spinach

Dietary fit: Vegan

Serving tip: Cool rice promptly, ideally within 1hour, and refrigerate at 0–5°C. Refrigerate dal within 1–2hours. Use together within 24hours or an earlier product limit, and reheat once only until steaming hot throughout. If needed, add up to 15ml water per serving when reheating the dal; this is additional to the original cooking water.

Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice plated and ready to serve.

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Ingredients

What you need

  • 280g red lentils
  • 1 × 400 ml tin coconut milk
  • 2 × 400 g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 160g baby spinach
  • 300g basmati rice
  • 150g onion
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 30g fresh ginger
  • 1 lime
  • 30g fresh coriander
  • 15ml vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp mild curry powder
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2700ml water
  • 2g salt

You'll also need

3l saucepan reused for lentils and rice, 30cm 5l deep saucepan for tomato-coconut sauce, Fine sieve, scales, measuring jug, knife, board and grater

Method

Step by step

Up to 8 clear steps
  1. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 1: Prepare the dal.
    Step 1

    Prepare ingredients

    For more than four servings, repeat batches of no more than four, dividing displayed ingredients and measured method totals between batches. Keep pan sizes and per-batch times fixed; allow extra elapsed time. Dice onion and crush garlic. Grate fresh ginger and chop coriander. Wash spinach, rinse dry red lentils and measure 2g lime zest and 30ml juice.

  2. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 2: Start the rice.
    Step 2

    Cook lentils separately

    Put all dry lentils in the 3l saucepan with 1400ml water. Bring to the boil and boil for 10 minutes, then simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or follow the packet until tender. Do not add acidic tomatoes while lentils are firm. Drain through a fine sieve and rinse with 500ml water, then drain thoroughly and discard cooking and rinse water. While lentils cook, make the sauce in the next step.

    25 min
  3. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 3: Soften the aromatics.
    Step 3

    Build tomato-coconut sauce

    Heat all 15ml vegetable oil in the 5l pan over medium heat. Cook all onion 8–10 minutes until soft. Add all garlic, fresh ginger, curry powder, turmeric and black pepper for 1 minute. Add all chopped tomatoes including juice, all coconut milk and all 2g salt. Simmer uncovered 15–20 minutes, stirring, until slightly thickened.

    31 min
  4. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 4: Bloom the spices.
    Step 4

    Cook rice

    Once lentils are drained, rinse all dry rice and put in the emptied saucepan with 600ml water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently 10–12 minutes, or follow the packet. If drying before tender, add boiling water from the measured 100ml rice contingency; discard unused contingency. Drain excess cooking water and rest covered off heat for 5 minutes. Finish the dal while rice cooks.

    12 min
  5. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 5: Simmer the lentils.
    Step 5

    Combine lentils and spinach

    Fold all cooked lentils into the sauce and simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring, until fully tender and creamy. If too thick, add hot water from the separate measured 100ml sauce reserve in small splashes; discard any unused reserve. Add all spinach and stir 2–3 minutes until wilted and everything is steaming hot.

    8 min
  6. Tomato Coconut Red Lentil Dal with Spinach Rice cooking step 6: Finish and serve.
    Step 6

    Finish and serve

    Remove dal from heat and stir in all 30ml lime juice and half the coriander. Fluff rice with all 2g lime zest. Divide all rice and dal evenly between the intended servings and scatter remaining coriander.