COCONUT DAL WITH KALE

Serves 4

In war or other times of national crisis, dal is rationed out by the Sri Lankan government as one of life’s essentials. Cooked with lemongrass and, if you can get it, pandan leaf (which adds a warm, vanilla flavour) as well as coconut milk, turmeric, curry leaves, garlic and lime, this dal is distinctively light and restorative, and is worlds away from its Indian counterparts like black dal makhani made with cream, or tarka dal made with butter. There is no other dal quite like it, and I encourage you to try adding roasted squash or pumpkin or roasted sweet potato. This one is one of the ways my mum would cook it when she was too short on time to make a separate kale curry. She’d simply stir the leaves in very close to the end of cooking so they retained their bright green flavour and nutrients.

Ingredients

For the dal

300g red split lentils or toor lentils

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved lengthways

1 lemongrass stalk, bruised

1½ tsp salt, or to taste

½ tsp Sri Lankan curry powder

4cm piece of pandan leaf (optional)

1 tsp ground turmeric

100ml coconut milk

3-4 small handfuls of kale (approx 200g)

½ lime

1 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

For the temper

1 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil

1 small red onion, peeled and finely sliced

10 fresh curry leaves

½ tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds

Method

Heat the oven to 240C. Melt the butter in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion, leek and a pinch of flaky sea salt and cook for 4-5 mins until softened but not coloured, stirring frequently.

Pour the lentils into a saucepan and rinse loosely under the tap then drain well. Cover the lentils with water until they’re submerged by about 5cm. Add the garlic, lemongrass, salt, curry powder and pandan leaf, if using. Bring to a boil over a medium-high heat.

Skim off any scum and turn the heat down, so the lentils are simmering. Add the turmeric and simmer for 12-15 mins until the lentils are tender. There’s no need to stir here, you can basically forget about them except to check they’re not bubbling too vigorously.

Drain off about 80 per cent of the liquid. You don’t want it to be too wet and soupy because you’re adding coconut milk.

Stir in coconut milk and kale and allow to simmer gently for 2-3 mins until the kale is bright green. Take out a little kale to try; it shouldn’t taste raw but should be soft with a firm bite. Remove from the heat and transfer to your serving bowl.

In a small frying pan, make the temper. Heat the oil over a medium-high heat (careful, it will splutter). When hot, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally for 3-5 mins until it starts to turn golden brown. Add the curry leaves, mustard seeds and cumin seeds and cook for a couple of minutes until the curry leaves are bright green. Be careful not to burn the spices!

Pour the whole temper, oil included, onto the cooked dal. Squeeze lime over it and sprinkle over the chilli flakes, if using, just before serving.

Recipe from Rambutan by Cynthia Shanmugalingam (Bloomsbury)

Shop

Sri Lankan curry powder

Spice Mountain Coconut milk

Raya

Kale

Elsey & Bent