Sweet Potato Dal

The sweet potato melts into the broken lentils giving the dal a wonderful creamy texture. It’s wholesome, hearty and extremely versatile, I like to make a big batch and keep portions in the freezer for lazy days. 

Serves 4 quite generously

• 2 onions

• 10g butter

• Groundnut oil

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon garam massala

• ½ cinnamon stick

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• 5cm piece of ginger

• 4 garlic cloves

• 1 red chilli

• 2 tbsp dessicated coconut

• 2 sweet potatoes - around 600g

• 300g Red split lentils

• 1 litre hot stock (veg or chicken)

• 1 tbsp tamarind paste

• A few sprigs of coriander

Wash and drain your lentils. Peel and finely chop the onions, place a medium saucepan on a medium low heat, once hot add the butter, oil and chopped onions. Let these sweat for 10 minutes until they are soft and sweet then stir in the spices. Peel and finely grate in the ginger and garlic, prick the chilli and throw into the pan along with the coconut. Stir everything together and let it cook for another couple of minutes.

Peel and chop the sweet potato into chunks and add to the pan. Add the drained lentils, pour in the stock, bring to the boil and then turn down the heat to low, simmer for about 1 hour, stirring every so often, adding a little more water if it needs it. I like the lentils and sweet potato to be so soft that they melt into one another, you can use a potato masher to help this along. Season generously with salt and pepper then stir through the tamarind. Serve with the coriander leaves - I love it with a soft egg and mango chutney too.