Cozy Vegan Red Lentil Dal with Coconut Milk and All the Turmeric

Make this delicious, nutrient-packed dish in less than 30 minutes.

Kate Gavlick   |  

Sep 10, 2024

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Make this quick, cozy, and easy vegan red lentil dal for dinner and seriously praise yourself for making something delicious and nutrient-packed in less than 30 minutes.

Made with a handful of pantry staples, (red lentils, coconut milk, and spices) this vegan dal is a great meal to batch cook or make on crazy, busy evenings. Simple sauté garlic and onions on the stove, stir in lentils, spices, and coconut milk, and cook.

This vegan dal uses red lentils, a type of lentil that cooks quickly and packs in quality vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber in every single spoonful. Just one cup of cooked lentils contains about 330 percent daily value of molybdenum, 90 percent folate, 63 percent fiber, and seriously impressive levels of copper, phosphorus, manganese, iron, protein, zinc, and B vitamins.

Numerous studies have linked lentil consumption with lower instances of cancer and heart disease, most likely due to their high fiber content. Expecting mothers should also fill up on lentils, as they’re one of the best sources of folate and other B vitamins (essential during pregnancy for development) around.

Red lentils are cooked with creamy coconut milk, a rich source of healthy fats, turmeric, curry spice, curcumin, and either vegetable broth or water. If you’re craving an extra dose of nutrients, throw in a handful or two of raw spinach at the end of the cooking process.

Serve this vegan dal with cooked quinoa or brown rice, a handful of cilantro, and homemade naan, if you desire. Enjoy the coziest, quickest dinner ever.

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp avocado oil
• 1 white onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1½ cups coconut milk
• 1½ cups water or vegetable broth
• ½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp curry powder
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• ½ cup cilantro chopped
• Cooked quinoa to serve

Preparation

1. Heat avocado oil over medium heat in a large pot on the stove.
2. Add diced onion and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes, or until soft.
3. Stir in grated ginger, red lentils, coconut milk, water or vegetable broth, spices, sea salt, and a few grinds of black pepper.
4. Bring mixture to a boil, cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 15-25 minutes, stirring every so often.
5. Dal is done with lentils have expanded and thickened and dal is creamy.
6. Serve dal with cooked quinoa and fresh cilantro to garnish. Enjoy!

By Kate Gavlick

Kate Gavlick is a nutritionist with a Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition (MSCN). Hailing from Portland Oregon, and... More about Kate Gavlick