Vegetarian mains
Spring green mung dal & chickpea curry with shiitake
This version of dal, made with yellow mung lentils, greens and our savoury shiitake mushrooms, is good for a healthy mid-week supper. Lentils can vary in their cooking time, so check the mung dal are tender before serving. They usually cook down to a nice creamy texture quite quickly. You’ll probably need to add a little more liquid to them, this will depend on the size of your pan and the heat you cook at.
Cook's notes
Season your lentils with salt at the end of cooking; it will prevent the lentils from softening if added at the start.
Ingredients
- 150g mung dal lentils (or use red lentils)
- oil for frying
- 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 large or 2 smaller garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
- 3cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 chilli, deseeded and finely diced - add to your taste for heat
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 250g spring greens, pointed cabbage or kale, leaves shredded
- 1 tin chickpeas, drained
- 150g shiitake mushrooms, larger ones halved or quartered
- 1 bunch coriander, leaves chopped
- 1 lemon
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Boil a kettle of water. Put the mung dal lentils in a large heatproof bowl (or use a saucepan) and pour over 600ml of boiled water and leave to soak until needed.
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Step 2
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan. Add the onion. Fry gently for 10 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent. If it looks like catching at any point, add a splash of water.
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Step 3
Once the onion has cooked for 10 minutes, add the garlic, ginger, chilli and curry powder.
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Step 4
Skim off and discard any scum from the top of the lentils using a spoon. Add the lentils and their soaking liquid to the onion mixture in the pan. Put a large pan of water on to boil for the greens.
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Step 5
Bring the lentil pan to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender (red lentils may take slightly less time). It's worth noting at this point that you'll need to cook the shiitake mushrooms about 5 minutes before the lentils are ready.
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Step 6
Keep an eye on the liquid and top up with a little more water if needed to stop the lentils drying out. You want a sloppy consistency but not too wet at the end of cooking.
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Step 7
Once the water is boiling, add the greens and cook for about 2-3 minutes, until tender. Drain and refresh the leaves in a bowl of cold water (or just run under cold water in the colander for a while), then drain again.
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Step 8
Once the lentils are about 5 minutes from being done, stir in the chickpeas.
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Step 9
Heat a little oil in a frying pan. Add the shiitake mushrooms. Fry, stirring now and then, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Season them once cooked.
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Step 10
Stir the greens into the lentils for 1 minute or so to warm through. Stir in most of the coriander. Add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste. Serve topped with the fried shiitake, sprinkled with the remaining coriander.