Red lentil dhal with aubergines and chickpeas

A delicious vegan recipe for red lentil dhal with aubergines and chickpeas. Healthy and budget-friendly yet at the same time hearty and warming you will love this simple curry recipe.

Dhal is something of a staple dinner at my house – just as it is across most of the Indian subcontinent. My house isn’t in India though, it’s in the less exotic south London. Cheap yet delicious, healthy yet filling, for me dhal is one of my favourite comfort meals. You can make dhal many different ways – green lentils, yellow lentils, black lentils can all feature. Sometimes dhal contains tomatoes, sometimes it doesn’t.

I make dhal most often with red lentils. They break down really well to create an almost soupy texture. The base recipe for the dhal that I’ve used here is the one I make most often. It can be enjoyed just as it is but here I’ve made it a bit more special by adding roasted aubergines and chickpeas to the mix.

These two extra ingredients make it really wonderful and if you haven’t tried this before I definitely recommend that you do. Don’t be put off by the ingredients list. It looks long but it’s not a difficult recipe to make. It can be served with rice as pictured (this is a brown rice and wild rice mix) or with roti or other Indian-style flatbread, perfect for mopping up those last bits of dhal in the bowl.

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Red lentil dhal with aubergine and chickpeas

A delicious vegan recipe for red lentil dhal with aubergines and chickpeas. Healthy and budget-friendly yet at the same time hearty and warming you will love this simple curry recipe.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Servings 4

Author Mandy Mazliah

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 aubergine diced
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 1 green chilli finely chopped
• Small handful fresh coriander roughly chopped
• Thumb-sized piece ginger finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 200 g red lentils
• 700 ml boiling water
• 1 400g tin of chickpeas
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• salt to taste
• fresh coriander leaves to serve

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C (fan)/200°C/gas mark 6.

2. Place the diced aubergine, the cumin and mustard seeds and the sunflower oil into a roasting tin and roast for 40 minutes, stiring half way, or until cooked.

3. Place the onion, garlic, chilli, coriander, ginger with 2 tbsp cold water into a small food processor and pulse until combined into a paste. You could also do this step in a pestle and mortar.

4. Heat the remaining sunflower oil in a large saucepan and add the mustard and cumin seeds. Cook over a medium heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop.

5. Add the paste, stir well and cook for a minute or two until it thickens slightly. Add the turmeric and stir.

6. Next add the chopped tomatoes, the lentils and 500ml of the boiling water. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to low and simmer for around 20 minutes, or until the lentils are cooked. Add the rest of the water gradually if it is becoming too thick.

7. When cooked stir in the aubergine and add the chickpeas and garam masala. Season to taste with salt and fresh coriander. 

8. Serve with rice or flatbreads.

If you like this you might like my beetroot and sweet potato curry.

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