Creamy Lentil Aubergine Dhal

Eventually this recipe was going to end up here if for no other reason than the book it currently lives in is on its last legs. It is a 1994 copy of Vegetarian Cooking by Louise Pickford. I believe it’s out of print now which always leaves me with a conundrum – to keep the book on the shelf or take out the recipes I like and recycle the rest. There are three or four recipes we have obviously loved as evidenced by the splashes of oil and tomato stains on a few pages. The book itself falls open to the page for this recipe, marking it as the clear favorite. Something similar happens with every cookbook, I think. You buy it with the ambition (hope?) that you’ll make everything in it but inevitably you end up here with a scant handful of loved pages throughout a book that takes up valuable real estate on the bookshelf. Conundrum.

There’s also the fact vegetarian cooking has come a long way since 1994. Flipping through the book you see the usual suspects: lots of lentils, so many tomatoes and onions. You have to really look to find even one butternut squash or locate a lonely mushroom among the pages. Needless to say, avacado isn’t mentioned once. The other striking thing is that there are very few recipes that allow the vegetables to stand on their own. They’re mostly stand ins with pasta or cheese stealing the show. I don’t think that’s fair especially when fresh, in season produce can change your entire perception of what an ingredient can be. SEE: in season tomatoes vs out of season tomatoes.

Yet with this lentil and aubergine recipe, la Pickford has created an extraordinary dhal that is so satisfying we often double the recipe so it will last for a week of lunches. On the first bite it puts its arm around your shoulder and asks you how you’ve been. It is warm and companionable. You will find yourself spending more time with it than you expected. Which is why the book falls open to this page and why it will stay on the bookshelf. There are so many memories that have this dish on the table as we’ve gathered and grown. The spice mix is warming but not spicy so the kids would eat it even when they were staunchly against anything hot. The chunks of aubergine have a meaty resistance among the creamy lentils that has convinced anyone who proudly declared they could never be a vegetarian. I love it because it has something for everyone which is rare at our dinner table, if I’m honest. We have upped the spices over time from the original which is reflected below and somewhere along the line started adding pomegranate seeds as a garnish which is fun and lovely but absolutely optional. I hope you give it a try!

Making

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4-6 for dinner with rice

About an hour

Ingredients

175g split red lentils

2 tsp ground turmeric

2 cinnamon sticks

750ml veggie stock

Olive oil

4 red chilies, deseeded and sliced thinly

5 garlic gloves, chopped finely

1 Tbsp fenugreek seeds

1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds

1 large onion, diced

1 aubergine, diced into large chunks

1 Tbsp garam masala

2 Tbsp tomato puree

Squeeze of lemon

50g creamed coconut

25g fresh coriander, chopped

OPTIONAL FOR GARNISH

Greek Yogurt

Pomegranate seeds

Instructions

Start by putting the LENTILS, TURMERIC, CINNAMON and STOCK into a large saucepan and bring to the boil. Let it simmer until the lentils are soft and the stock is absorbed. It takes about twenty five minutes.

While the lentils are cooking, put the OLIVE OIL in a pan on medium heat along with the RED CHILIES, GARLIC, FENUGREEK SEEDS and MUSTARD SEEDS. Cook until the chili and garlic has softened, about five minutes. Once it has finished cooking, remove from the pan and set aside.

Add a few tablespoons of oil back to the pan to fry the ONION and AUBERGINE. You want the onions to be soft and the aubergine to be taking on some color. Depending on the size of your pan and the size of your aubergine this can take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes.

Once the onions and aubergine are cooked, pour the chili/garlic mixture back into the pan along with the GARAM MASALA, TOMATO PUREE and SQUEEZE of LEMON. When the lentils are finished, remove the cinnamon sticks and add to the pan with the veggies. Stir together and taste. Does it need anything? It might need some salt.

Just before serving, stir through the CREAMED COCONUT until it melts and then the FRESH CORIANDER. Serve with rice or naan with the garnishes you enjoy.

Tags:Easy Good for a group