Daal Shepherd's Pie — a plant-based British recipe by BOSH!
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Daal Shepherd's Pie

This one is genuinely one of our all-time favourites and we make it on repeat through winter. It's two of the greatest comfort foods smashed into one pot, a rich, spiced red lentil daal topped with fluffy mashed potato, and honestly it just works on every level. The lentils go creamy and deeply savoury with the ginger, chilli and coriander doing their thing underneath, and the mash on top goes golden at the edges in the oven. It takes about 80 minutes but most of that is hands-off time, and it feeds a crowd without any fuss. Make this tonight and you will not regret it.

Cook: 80 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 180°C
  • Lasagne dish
  • Large saucepan
  • Frying pan
  • Colander
  • Grater (for garlic, ginger, cucumber)
  • Microplane (optional, for ginger)

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp ground fenugreek
  • 1 onion
  • 20g fresh coriander
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 3cm ginger
  • 1 red chilli
  • 200g red lentils
  • 1 x 400g can x 400g can(s) of chopped tomatoes
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • 10g coriander
  • 1 tbsp vegetable bouillon
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 3 tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1kg potatoes
  • 1 tsp turmeric - + 1tsp
  • 3cm piece of fresh ginger
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 4 spring onions
  • 200g coconut yoghurt
  • 3 spring onions
  • ¼ cucumber
  • ½ tsp caster sugar
  • ½ tbsp salt
  • 5g fresh mint
  • 5g fresh coriander leaves
  • ½ Juice of 1 lemon
  • mango chutney
  • popadoms
  • side salad

Method

1

First, make the filling

  • Peel and finely dice the onion
  • Pick the leaves from the coriander and finely slice the stalks
  • Peel and grate the garlic and ginger
  • De-stalk and finely slice the chilli
  • Prepare the stock
2

Make the dal

  • Warm the coconut oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the onion, a pinch of salt and stir for 4-5 minutes until soft
  • Add garlic, chilli, ginger and coriander stalks to the pan and stir for 2 minutes
  • Turn the heat down and add the cumin, turmeric, garam masala, sugar, ground coriander, fenugreek and a splash of water to the pan
  • Stir for 1-2 minutes to combine
  • Add the lentils to the pan and stir for 1 minute
  • Add the chopped tomatoes and coconut milk to the pan and stir to combine
  • Pour the vegetable stock into the pan, bring it to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, put the lid on and leave to simmer for 20-25 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until the lentils are almost cooked
3

Prepare the potato topping

  • Wash the potatoes and cut into ½ cm thick slices
  • Peel and grate the garlic & ginger
  • Peel and finely dice the spring onion
  • Pick the coriander leaves and finely slice the stalks Put the slices of potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with cold water, sprinkle the vegetable bouillon, salt and 1 tsp of turmeric into the pan
  • Bring the water to the boil over a high heat and leave to simmer for 5 minutes
  • Drain the potato slices with a colander and leave to steam dry
  • Warm the coconut oil in a frying pan over a medium heat
  • Add the onion and a small pinch of salt to the pan and stir for 5-6 minutes
  • Add the mustard seeds and cumin seeds to the pan and stir for 30 seconds
  • Add the garlic, ginger and coriander stalks to the pan and stir for 1-2 minutes
  • Take the pan off the heat, add the slices of potato and picked coriander leaves to the pan and gently fold them into the flavoured oil
  • Set the pan to one side 
4

Now assemble the Indian Shepherd’s Pie

  •  Pour the filling into the base of the lasagne dish and smooth out with a spoon
  • Carefully layer the slices of potato over the top of the filling in a decorative fashion
  • Cover the lasagne dish with foil, place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes
  • Take the dish out of the oven, remove the foil, return the dish to the oven and bake for a further 20 minutes to crisp the bombay potato 
  • To make the Raita, trim and finely slice the spring onions
  • Coarsely grate the cucumber and use a clean tea towel to squeeze out the excess water
  • Pick and finely slice the mint and coriander leaves
  • Add the spring onions, cucumber, mint and coriander in a bowl with the caster sugar, salt, yoghurt and lemon juice and fold everything together to form the raita
5

Time to serve

  • Plate up the Indian Shepherd’s Pie with some raita, salad, mango chutney, some pappadums and serve

Tips & Variations

  • Make it spicier: We love this fairly mild so everyone can dig in, but if you want more heat just leave the seeds in the chilli or add a pinch of cayenne to the lentils while they cook.
  • Get the mash right: Fluffy mash is the goal here. Make sure you drain the potatoes really well before mashing and don't be shy with the plant-based butter, it makes a big difference to how golden the top gets.
  • Rest before serving: Give it five minutes out of the oven before you dish it up. It firms up slightly and means you actually get those lovely layers when you spoon it out.

Why This Works

The trick is letting the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli really cook down before you add the lentils, that base is where all the flavour lives. Red lentils are brilliant here because they break down and get thick and almost buttery, which holds up perfectly under the mash without going watery. We also find keeping the coriander stalks in the filling and saving the leaves for the top gives you two different hits of freshness.