Lazy Lentil Dhal

Lazy Lentil Dhal

This one is a proper weeknight hero. We call it lazy because the oven does most of the hard work, and honestly that's exactly what we need on a busy evening. The lentils turn out incredibly creamy and rich, soaking up all those warm spices, garlic, ginger and chilli into something that tastes like it took way more effort than it did. It's the kind of dhal that makes you want to mop the bowl clean with a big chunk of naan. Make this tonight and you'll have it on rotation for life, trust us.

Cook: 45 min
Serves 4

Before You Start

  • Preheat oven to 200°C fan
  • Large baking dish
  • Large bowl for rinsing lentils
  • Sieve (optional, for rinsing lentils)
  • Foil for covering

Ingredients

  • 250g red lentils
  • 1 onion
  • 30g piece of fresh ginger
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 2 green chilli
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 ½ tsp turmeric powder
  • 1 400g cans cherry tomatoes
  • 2 vegetable stock cube
  • 3 blocks frozen spinach
  • 1 400 ml tin of coconut milk
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • 1 lime
  • coconut yoghurt
  • flatbread
  • basmati rice

Method

1

Prepare the ingredients

  • Fill a large bowl with cold water, add the lentils and use your hands to rinse. Drain the water, and repeat once or twice until the water is clear. Or, rinse the lentils in sieve under cold running water
  • Peel and roughly chop the onion, ginger and garlic
  • Deseed and roughly chop the green chilli
2

For the dhal

  • Preheat the oven to 200*C fan setting
  • Place the lentils, onion, ginger, garlic and chilli in a baking dish, followed by the rest of the dahl ingredients.  Boil the kettle and pour 400ml of boiling water into the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake in the hot oven for 25 minutes. Carefully remove from the oven, take off the foil, stir, and return to the oven for another 15 minutes, or until the lentils are tender
3

Finish and serve

  • Finish the dhal with the juice from a lime. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if you would like
  • Serve with coconut yoghurt and flatbreads for dipping

Tips & Variations

  • Spice it your way: We love it with a good kick from the green chilli, but if you're cooking for people who prefer it milder just leave the seeds in fewer pieces or swap for half a chilli. You're in control here.
  • Finish it with a tarka: If you want to take it to the next level, heat a little oil in a pan, add mustard seeds, a pinch of dried chilli flakes and a few curry leaves until they pop, then pour it straight over the dhal just before serving. Game changer.
  • Make it go further: This is brilliant served with fluffy basmati rice, but we also love it spooned over a baked potato when we're feeling extra lazy. No judgement whatsoever.

Why This Works

The trick here is throwing everything into the oven together rather than babysitting it on the hob. The dry heat concentrates all those flavours and gives the onion and garlic a slightly deeper, almost roasted quality that you just don't get from a standard dhal. It's one of those moments where doing less actually gives you more.