One Pot Coconut Dal w/ Spiced Califlower
So this is my twist on Nepalese cuisine! Nepalese you may ask.. Well I (Rosie) am leaving England for Nepal in June to volunteer with rural communities, helping with water sanitation and livelihoods. I am fundraising £1500 for Raleigh International and ICS, the charities that is making this volunteering possible and that support great causes like helping in Nepal as well as other less developed countries.
Nepal was devastated by an Earthquake in 2015 and is still far from recovery. The countries and communities were shattered physically, emotionally and financially. I will be doing my bit to help Nepal and citizens that are overlooked, but I can’t do this without your DONATIONS! Whatever you can spare, a little goes a long way in providing resources that offer a better life for another being. If you really can’t spare a pound (or dollar), then please share this OR THIS! One of your friends out there could make a difference on your behalf 😉
If this isn’t incentive enough, I will be hiking 100 miles across the South Downs Way to achieve my fundraising goal of £1500. I’m not at all trained at hiking or wild camping so i’m going to need your pennies of support to motive me though each mile!
So if you want to donate, please click onto my JustGiving page, where you can find more info!
Within my three months of volunteering, I will be eating a huge amount of Dal Bhat (lentils and rice). This might sound boring, but it actually is one of my favourite meals. My mum makes an awesome Dal and it bring joy to my taste buds every time she’s decided to cook it. The traditional Nepalese dish has taken a Hungry Herbivores twist, with creamy coconut addition and tender, Nepali spiced cauliflower.
I really recommend you try out this dish. It’s a perfectly simple, healthy main meal you can make for the family and any leftovers are suitable for freezing too! For the dal, you only need one pot, so less washing up for your made-from-scratch meal.. That’s almost unheard of.
Dal can be made with pretty much any lentil. But we have used Chana Dal (Yellow Split peas), which I find makes the nicest texture in the Lentil dish. You could use canned lentils to reduce time (which I have never done, but should be fine), though we used dried. You can get Chana Dal at most supermarkets, wholefood or Asian supermarkets.
We’d love you to test out our recipe and tell us what you think! If you appreciate what we do here at The Hungry Herbivores, please do consider donating to the cause – it would mean so much to me. While you’re there, take a look at our Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest for more delish vegan recipes (yes I even have some scheduled posts for when I’m away in Nepal!)
- 2 cups Yellow Split Peas
- 1 can Full-Fat coconut milk
- 3-4 cups water
- 2 onions, diced roughly
- 1 red chili, diced
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1½ tsp turmeric
- 1½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp black mustard seeds
- ½ tsp asafoetida
- ½ tsp ground cardamom seeds
- 1" fresh ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- ½ a large cauliflower
- ¼ cup gram (chickpea) flour
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp ground fenugreek seeds
- ½ tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp salt & pepper
- ½ cup water
- Pre heat your oven at 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 and line a baking tray with greaseproof/parchment paper.
- To start your Dal, heat a large, heavy bottom pan and add our coconut oil. Once heated, add the onion and chilli, frying until the onion is translucent. Now add your spices: cumin, turmeric, mustard seeds, asafoetida, cardamom, ginger and garlic. Stir continuously for about 1 minute - it should be very fragrant.
- Add your Split Peas, coconut milk and 3 cups of water. Stir together and let come to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce to a simmer. Stir occasionally and add another cup of water when water has nearly been absorbed. You may need to use more water to loosen the Dal. Let cook for about 45mins to 1 hour, or until your lentils are soft and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- You can keep the Dal chunky, or you can use a hand blender to blend slightly, for a half and half chunky/smooth texture.
- While your Dal is cooking, Mix all of the other ingredients together in a bowl. Set aside to thicken slightly.
- Break your cauliflower into small florets. One by one, dip each floret into the mixture and smother with the mixture fully and place onto the lined baking paper. Repeat. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Serve the Dal with rice or on its own and top with the spiced cauliflower and a sprinkle of coriander.
As a head’s up, Chana Dal refers to split chickpeas. Yellow split peas are toor dal. I made this with chana dal because that’s what I bought based on the recipe and it finally finished cooking 4 hours after I started it. Obviously, I had made a second dinner by then. The recipe was fine, but please correct the recipe so no one else makes this mistake.
I am terribly sorry Joy. Yes, you are right. Yellow spilt peas are the correct ingredient. I don’t know what I was thinking, must have got mixed up with the Indian names. Thank you for flagging this up with me. Again, very sorry
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