HeartSong Retreat Recipes: Red Lentil & Aubergine Dal

This week in the Heartsong kitchen, we’ve been making a gently spiced Red Lentil & Aubergine Dal - wholesome, warming, and really delicious. This plant-based dal is fragrant with curry leaves, ginger, and cumin, it’s a bowlful of comfort that’s easy to prepare and full of goodness. It freezes really well too so a great recipe to use to batch cook some meals in advance. Feel free to swap out the aubergine for any other seasonal veg - courgettes, squash or peppers would all work well. It's definitely a recipe we'll be making again, and including on our retreat menus. Bon appetit! 

Total Time: 1 hour
Makes: 6 cups (1 cup = 1 serving)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil


1 medium onion, finely chopped


4 cloves garlic, minced


1 tbsp grated fresh ginger


1 tsp turmeric


1 tsp cumin seeds (or ¾ tsp ground cumin)


1 tsp ground coriander


1 tsp smoked paprika

2 bay leaves


8–10 fresh curry leaves (or 1–2 dried, optional but lovely)


1 medium aubergine (approx. 350g), chopped


1 cup red lentils, well rinsed


400g fresh tomatoes, blended


2½–3 cups water or low-sodium vegetable stock


½ tsp sea salt, or to taste


Black pepper, to taste


Juice of ½ lemon or a splash of apple cider vinegar


Fresh coriander to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Sauté aromatics:
In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for 5–6 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, ginger, cumin seeds, turmeric, coriander, smoked paprika, bay and curry leaves. Cook for 1–2 minutes until fragrant.


Add aubergine:
Add the chopped aubergine and cook for 5–7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to soften and lightly brown.


Add lentils, tomatoes, and liquid:
Stir in the rinsed lentils, blended fresh tomatoes, and 2½ cups of water or stock. Bring to a gentle boil.


Simmer:
Reduce the heat, cover loosely, and simmer for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the lentils and aubergine are tender. Add more liquid as needed to maintain your preferred consistency.


Season and finish:
Add the salt, black pepper, and lemon juice. Adjust the thickness with a little extra water or stock if needed. Let sit for 5 minutes to allow flavours to deepen.


Garnish and serve:
Garnish with fresh coriander if desired. Serve with rice, roasted sweet potato, or steamed greens and a zingy mint carrot and cucumber raita on the side. Bon appetit! 

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