This was inspired by Michelle's pumpkin dahl which she fed us when we were staying with her in the days just before we left for the UK. Thanks Michelle! She also added fried black mustard seeds right at the end, but I couldn't find any at the time I was making this in our extrememly bare kitchen. Make sure you use a good curry powder from an Indian grocer.
To shorten the preparation time you can get the dahl on to simmer, while frying up the onion and spices separately, and adding them to the dahl towards the end. If you do it this way, it is also nice to add some sliced mushrooms to the onion and spice mix.
| 1 1/2 cups | channa dahl |
| 1 | onion |
| 3 cloves | garlic |
| a tablespoon or so | ghee |
| 2 tablespoons | curry powder |
| additional ground cumin, coriander, ginger, chilli, etc |
| a piece | butternut pumpkin, about the size of two fists |
| a bunch | english spinach |
| a tablespoon or two | coconut milk |
| salt and freshly ground black pepper |
Rinse the dahl well and soak in water for a couple of hours.
Get the pumpkin ready by peeling it and chopping into chunks about 3 x 2 cm. Put it aside for now. Chop the onion and fry in the ghee until softening. Add the crushed garlic and the curry powder and spices and fry until the powder is smoking and very aromatic. Now add the dahl and pumpkin pieces, and add water to cover. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, until it is at the consistency you want. About halfway through, taste it for seasoning and if necessary add more curry powder or spices.
Rinse and chop the spinach. Throw it into the dahl and stir through. Simmer for another 5 minutes or so until it is wilted and cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste, and stir through the coconut milk. Serve with steamed rice.
Serves 4-6.
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