This Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal recipe is the brainchild of one of our flat “rustle-ups”! If you have ever seen the TV show “Best Home Cook”, you will have seen Chris Bavin presenting the cooks with a surprise store cupboard ingredient, and then they have 1 hour to cook something with it using whatever else is provided in the larder. My flatmate and I have started to “play” these “rustle ups” by giving one another a surprise ingredient and then having to make dinner within an hour. Last time, my flatmate gave me a handful of sweet potatoes, so I decided to “rustle up” this Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal.
How to make Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal
This Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal could not be easier to make! The base consists of onion, garlic and chilli, as well as a bunch of spices – so the usual thing you would expect from a curry!
I then add in some chopped pepper, before adding the sweet potatoes and lentils. Everything is cooked in some vegetable stock and chopped tomatoes, and I like to stir in some Greek yoghurt in the end to give it a more creamy texture!
This Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal is very similar to my other recipe for Red Lentil Dhal with Crispy Aubergine.
What to serve with the Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal
Like all curries, this Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal is best served on a bed of fluffy white basmati rice! If you are unsure how to cook the perfect basmati rice, make sure to check out this cooking basics post here.
Alternatively, for a slightly healthier version, you could serve this Dhal with cauliflower rice instead. I find making this yourself quite difficult and use the easy short-cut of buying frozen cauliflower rice (I get mine from ASDA). All you do is microwave it for 4 minutes and you’re done!
In addition, what curry would be complete without some naan bread! I love making my own 2-Ingredient Naan Bread to serve with curries and dhals! They could not be easier to make, all you do is mix self-raising flour and Greek yoghurt to make a dough, before cooking them in a hot frying pan! You can then brush them with butter and any other flavouring of your choice, my favourite is garlic and coriander! Make sure to check out the recipe and video to find out more!
More quick and easy Dhal and Curry Recipes
I love cooking curries, chillis and dhals! They are so easy to make and are great for meal prep – perfect for students and busy people!!! Check out some of my other favourites below!
- Chicken Thai Green Curry
- Vegan Chickpea and Spinach Curry
- Red Lentil Dhal with Roasted Aubergine
- Chicken, Sweet Potato and Spinach Curry
- Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea Pilaf
- Creamy Chicken Coconut Curry
- Veggie Chilli with Roasted Sweet Potato
- Vegan Mixed Bean Chilli
Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal
Recipe
Ingredients (serve 3-4):
- ½ tbsp olive oil
- 1 large red onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red chilli, sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp curry powder
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
- 350g sweet potato, cut into 1.5×1.5cm cubes
- 160g red lentils
- 1 vegetable stock cube, dissolved in 500ml water
- 400g tin chopped or plum tomatoes
- 2-3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
- Fresh coriander, to serve (optional)
- Basmati or brown rice, to serve
- Naan bread, to serve (check out my 2-ingredient naan bread recipe here)
Method:
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, then add in the onions and gently fry for 5 minutes until soft. Then add in the crushed garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute.
- Stir in the tomato purée and all of the spices and cook for a minute or two to cook out the rawness of the spices.
- Add the red pepper, diced sweet potato and red lentils to the pan and give stir until fully coated in the onions and spices.
- Pour in the vegetable stock and chopped tomatoes and stir well. Bring the dhal to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes until the sweet potato starts to soften.
- In the meantime, you can cook the rice timing it in a way that it will be finished at the same time as the dhal, bearing in mind that brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice. If you are unsure about cooking rice, check out this cooking basics post here.
- Remove the lid from the frying pan with the dhal and leave to cook for another 5-10 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in 2-3 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt to create a creamy texture at the end.
- Scatter the freshly chopped coriander on top (optional) and serve the Sweet Potato and Lentil Dhal over a bed of rice and some optional naan bread.
