Sri Lankan Daal

The secret of making good daal is making sure you fry the lentils like you would fry chicken.

You’ll need:

• 330g red lentils

Grab a big bowl, rinse the lentils, and then soak them in, covering them with an extra 1cm of water. Do so for at least 30 minutes. Rinse the lentils once, and after you’ve soaked them, don’t throw away the water. It’s full of protein and flavour. 

Then you’ll need:

• 1 tbsp mustard seeds

• 1 tsp cumin seeds

• 1 tbsp coriander seeds

On medium heat, toast the spices and add…

• 1 onion chopped

• 2 green chillies chopped

• 3 cloves garlic chopped

Crank up the heat and cook the onions and garlic until brown, then add… 

• 1 tbsp veggie oil or olive oil

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 8 cardamom pods

• 2 tsp turmeric

• ¾ tsp salt

• Water

Use your hands to grab some of the soaked lentils and place them into a pan. Don’t drain them as the water is essential for cooking.

Stir the lentils at high heat until all the water is soaked up. Continue to stir them for a couple of minutes afterwards. Toss in some daal and stir it into the mix.

Repeat this process with the lentils and daal until you have a little bit of the daal mix left. Then, with the remaining daal, put it into the pan and add water until it doesn’t quite fully cover the contents.

Cook this until all the water has been soaked up and evaporated, you can also add 120ml coconut milk to make it a little creamier, although this is optional.

To Serve:

• White rice or flatbread

• 1 lemon cut into wedges and squeezed (essential)

• A handful of fresh coriander chopped

• Green chilli chopped (optional)

• Chilli flakes (optional)