Vegetarian mains
Rooty coconut dal with sticky rice
Serve this beautifully seasoned, creamy vegan dish of dal and roasted root veg with rice, chapatti or naan bread. It's wholesome and comforting and the turmeric and ginger are great for the digestion. The leftovers (if there are any) will taste even better the next day, once the flavours have had time to come together. Make sure you stir fairly frequently during the cooking or you'll end up with burnt lentils stuck to the bottom of your saucepan.
Ingredients
- 300g mixed root veg (peeled and diced weight)
- coconut oil for frying
- 100g jasmine rice
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 4cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- 1 crumbled dried chilli, or a good pinch or two of chilli flakes
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground
- 100g yellow mung dal lentils or red lentils, rinsed
- 1x 400ml tin coconut milk
- handful coriander leaves (optional)
- 1 lime or lemon
- toasted coconut chips or desiccated coconut to garnish
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 5.
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Step 2
Put the veg in a baking dish with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
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Step 3
Pop in the oven for 5 minutes, then remove and toss the veg in the melted oil.
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Step 4
Roast for about 20-25 minutes, until tender and starting to colour.
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Step 5
Meanwhile, put the rice in a pan with 500ml water and a good pinch of salt.
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Step 6
Cover and boil for 10 minutes, then turn off the heat and leave it covered to steam.
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Step 7
Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a pan. Add the onion and fry on a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring now and then.
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Step 8
Turn up the heat slightly and add the garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli and mustard seeds. Stir for about 1 minute, until the mustard seeds start to pop.
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Step 9
Add the cumin, coriander, lentils and coconut milk (stir the tin first). Refill half the tin with water and add that too.
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Step 10
Bring up to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so, until the lentils are soft.
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Step 11
Season, stir in the fresh coriander if using and add a squeeze of lime or lemon juice to taste.
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Step 12
Fluff up the rice with a fork; all the liquid should be absorbed and the rice sticky.
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Step 13
Serve the dal on the rice, with the roasted roots, sprinkled with toasted coconut.