Warming pumpkin and lentil dahl

With red lentils and orange pumpkin, this dahl will leave you feeling as bright as it looks. There’s a little bit of slow simmering to be done here, but once you’ve tasted the effect of letting the flavours of the curry powder, stock and vegies infuse together, you’ll agree it’s worth it.

Time to prepare: 45 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

½ red onion

1 birdseye chilli

400g pumpkin

1 cube vegetable stock

½ cup red lentils

150g baby spinach leaves

1 tbs olive oil

1 tbs mild curry powder

2 cups hot water

1 can diced tomatoes

¾ cup brown rice 

3 cups water 

4 tbs plain Greek yoghurt

Directions

1. To prepare the ingredients, finely chop the red onion and long red chilli (deseeded). Peel the pumpkin and cut it into 2cm cubes. Crumble the vegetable stock. Rinse the red lentils and wash the baby spinach.

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add the red onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the mild curry powder and long red chilli and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the pumpkin and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

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3. Add the vegetable stock cube, hot water, diced tomatoes, and the red lentils to the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 30-35 minutes, or until the lentils and pumpkin are tender. Stir intermittently to ensure the lentils do not stick to the base of the pan. Remove from the heat and stir through the baby spinach.

4. Meanwhile, place the brown rice and water in a medium saucepan and bring to the boil. Cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. Simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is soft and the water is absorbed.

5. Divide the dahl between bowls and serve with the Greek yoghurt.