Chickpea, Spinach, and Lentil Dhal

No friendship group is complete without a curry night. If you're new to this, expect the following: your whitest friend sweating after a korma and downing milk like an infant goat, one friend stealing all the fucking naan, another complaining and saying that you 'should have gone for a Chinese', and last but not least, the vegetarian complaining about their lack of options. You already know which one you are. This article is the chickpea, spinach, and lentil-based solution to the last of these occurrences. Use it wisely. 

Chickpea, Spinach, and Lentil Dahl

• Prep Time:10 mins
• Cook Time:35 mins
• Total Time:45 mins
• Servings:6
• Easy

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• olive oil
• 2.5 tspn cumin
• 2 tspn paprika
• 2 tspn turmeric
• 2.5 tspn hot chilli powder
• 1 tspn ground ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• tin and a half chopped tomatoes
• 500ml vegetable stock
• 2 tspn coriander leaf
• 1 tspn parlsey
• 1 tin chickpeas drained
• 200g red split lentils
• 120g fresh spinach leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• spring onion to garnish

• Step 1

  Start off by dicing your onion and frying in a deep frying pan in olive oil. After it begins to soften and pale, crush your garlic and add it to the pan, followed swiftly by all the dried spices. These will give off an intense aroma, literally a flavour of what's to come.

  

• Step 2

  Once the onion is fully coated in spices and softened, add your tinned tomatoes with the coriander and parsley, stirring all the while to ensure it's fully mixed

  

• Step 3

  Add about 350ml of your stock, then the chickpeas and lentils. Cover and let simmer for around 15 minutes

  

• Step 4

  Finally, pour in your last 150ml of stock and toss in your spinach. Leave the lid off and keep an eye on the pan as the spinach wilts and the curry reduces.

  

• Step 5

  Once the curry has fully reduced, the lentils and chickpeas are cooked, and the spinach has wilted, turn off the heat. If the lentils or chickpeas still aren't fully cooked, add some more water and let simmer for another few minutes.

  

• Step 6

  Serve with a sprinkling of diced spring onions.