Given my Friday consisted of Brittany Murphy wearing checks tied around her waist, Haagen Dazs caramel biscuit & cream and Frank Ocean with my G&T, I win.
Fuggetaboutit. Competitions over. What really tipped me over the edge was the extreme lack of portion control when it came to this bowl of yum. Take me back to my second favourite country in Asia so I can go rollin with the homies once again.
Sri Lankan Coconut Dhal with Crispy Onions
Serves 4
Ingredients
Dhal:
1 1/2 cups of red lentils
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
1tsp turmeric
1tsp curry powder
1 cinnamon quill
10 fresh curry leaves
400ml coconut milk
Crunchy onions:
1/4 cup coconut oil
5 shallots, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
15 curry leaves
1tsp mustard seeds
Coriander leaves and limes to serve
Method
Rinse and drain the lentils really well then add to a large pot along with the all the dhal ingredients and 350ml of water. Bring to the boil then reduce to a low simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Keep an eye on it incase you want to add more water.
In the meantime heat the coconut oil in a non stick pan and add the onion ingredients. Stir until golden and crunchy then turn off the heat.
Once the lentils are tender and mushy, season well with salt then serve with rice, coriander and drizzle over the crunchy onion mixture.
Heather Taylor says
Holly – in absence of curry leaves, what can I use instead?
The Wandering Matilda says
Hey Heather!
They can sometimes be found frozen or dried in your Asian grocer. If not though, just leave out. The flavour won’t be as intense so you can add in some fenugreek seeds to enhance the ‘curry’ flavour if you like. Add them at the same time as the curry leaves in the recipe. Good luck!
The Wandering Matilda says
Hey Heather, how did you go finding curry leaves? X