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Dinner recipe

Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime

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Creamy coconut and tomato red lentils with spinach and lime, served over basmati rice.

Start planningStart cookingIngredients
80 min685 kcal4 base servingsDinnerQuickFamily FriendlyVegan
ContainsGluten
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Recipe and nutrition estimates

Recipe times, servings, calories and nutrition notes are estimates for planning. They are not medical or dietary advice. Check food is cooked safely and adjust recipes for your household's needs.

Focus ingredients: red lentils, basmati rice, coconut milk, baby spinach

Dietary fit: Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-free

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.

Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime plated and ready to serve.

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Ingredients

What you need

  • 250g red lentils
  • 280g basmati rice
  • 400ml coconut milk
  • 150g baby spinach
  • 1 × 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
  • 150g onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 lime
  • 2 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 15ml olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2510ml 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. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 1: Start the rice.
    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. Wash spinach, rinse dry red lentils and measure 2g lime zest and 30ml juice.

  2. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 2: Prepare the base.
    Step 2

    Cook lentils separately

    Put all dry lentils in the 3l saucepan with 1250ml 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. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 3: Build the spices.
    Step 3

    Build tomato-coconut sauce

    Heat all 15ml olive oil in the 5l pan over medium heat. Cook all onion 8–10 minutes until soft. Add all garlic, 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. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 4: Simmer the lentils.
    Step 4

    Cook rice

    Once lentils are drained, rinse all dry rice and put in the emptied saucepan with 560ml 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. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 5: Wilt the spinach.
    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. Coconut Red Lentil Spinach Rice Bowls with Lime cooking step 6: Serve the bowls.
    Step 6

    Finish and serve

    Remove dal from heat and stir in all 2g lime zest and all 30ml juice. Divide all rice and dal evenly between the intended servings and serve promptly.