An immune-supportive, comforting lentil dahl
This nourishing lentil dahl is packed with anti-viral ingredients, and is simple to make and enjoy – either as a meal in itself or as a side dish to curries.
It’s been served at both dinner parties and at toddler playdates and all the ingredients have so much going for them nutritionally, it’s hard to know what to start highlighting: the fab high-fibre lentils, the chlorophyl-rich coriander leaves, or the addition of amazing, anti-inflammatory turmeric?
But we eat this dahl the most at the first sign of a cold or other virus striking. Its comforting, soup-like texture makes it easy to digest, and packs in a fair few antiviral, antimicrobial foods such as garlic, onion, turmeric, cumin, coriander and coconut oil . Using home made chicken stock adds an extra immune boost due to the nutrient dense broth left from slowly simmered chicken bones – but if you’ve none to hand, some fresh supermarket stock, or an organic stock cube can be used.
It’s important to crush or chop the garlic about ten minutes ahead of using it – the powerful compound allicin, responsible for so many of garlic’s health benefits, is deactivated by heat. Chopping in advance allows time for allicin production before cooking it!
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- 125 g red lentils rinsed
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 500 mls chicken stock
- 2 handfuls spinach leaves rinsed
- 2 handfuls coriander leaves rinsed, chopped
- 1 medium red onion chopped
- 2 cloves garlic crushed or chopped
- 1 dsp coconut oil or olive oil or ghee
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- Crush or chop the garlic and set aside
- Heat the coconut oil in a saucepan and saute the onion for 5 minutes until soft
- Add the turmeric, ground coriander, cumin and garlic and stir for a minute before adding the lentils
- Add chicken stock, bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the lentils have absorbed the stock. Stir occasionally to stop the lentils sticking to the bottom of the pan
- Add the spinach and 1 handful of coriander leaves, and stir for a couple of minutes until wilted. Blend with a stick blender to get a smooth, green dahl, or simply serve as is, sprinkled with the remaining chopped coriander leaves
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