Spinach Daal with Spiced Eggplant

[highlyeccentric]

This is really a mash-up of two recipes, with the ultimate aim of providing Sufficient Nutrients in a single meal. The first is Jack Monroe's Spinach & lentil daal, from their second book; the second recipe is the Epicurious Indian spiced eggplant recipe. Both have been customised by me, for me. (This means they are white girl versions of indian food. Caveat lector)


This recipe is: vegetarian, relatively low-carb, tomato free, gluten free
This recipe could be: vegan, if you eliminate the yoghurt (it's not essential. Some cashew cream might be a good substitute =)
This recipe requires: at least an hour, a wee bit of chopping, and faffing around with two pots on a hot stove. You could theoretically do it in one pot, but you'd have to do the eggplant first and then remove it, which would just add more time.



Daal
1 onion, niced
1 tsp sembal oelek (or: diced fresh chili; or: powdered chili)
1 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground ginger
1 vegetable stock cube
100 grams red split lentils
at least 300g of water (amount will vary depending on how long you simmer it for)
4 cubes frozen spinach
100ml plain or greek yoghurt
1-2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice

- Heat the oil in a medium saucepan; add the onion and caramelise for 2-3 minutes.
- Add chili and spices, stir, and cook over low heat for another 2-3 minutes.
- Rinse lentils, add to onion mix. Stir through. Add stock cube. Add 100ml of water and stir until absorbed.
- Add frozen spinach cubes and further 200ml water. Break up the spinach as it defrosts.
- While preparing the eggplant, occasionally stir the daal and add a dash more water before it completely dries out/burns.
- Just before the eggplant is ready, add the citrus juice and the yoghurt. Stir together.

Spiced Eggplant

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
200 ml water + extra
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 eggplant, in 1/2 inch cubes
2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

- In a medium to large frying pan, heat the oil and add spices. Stir 1-2 minutes.
- Meanwhile mix liquids together.
- Add eggplant to pan, stir to mix with spices. Fry for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.
- Add vinegar mixture, lower heat, and simmer approx 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Continue until the liquid is absorbed and eggplant is cooked through/ slightly charred. If liquid absorbs BEFORE eggplant is cooked, add a dash more.
- Immediately after adding yoghurt and lime to the daal, stir the eggplant through the daal mix.


NOM.

Comments

[wendelah1]

This sounds tasty. I have two questions? What's a "cube of frozen spinach"? If I can't find them, how much fresh spinach would I substitute? Also, I have never seen red lentils in my market. If I can't find them, would regular lentils work?

Okay, that's four questions.

[highlyeccentric]

Uh... my frozen spinach comes in cubes of about 1 inch. I think Jack M recommended 200 grams of fresh? But it is probably a case of "however much you have". Certainly the 4 cubes was a case of me going 'eeeeh... THAT MUCH'.

If you use regular lentils I think you'd need to soak them overnight, or simmer them for a couple of hours beforehand. Red lentils tend to be softer, so you can skip that stage (and I usually do).

[wendelah1]

So around a cup of raw spinach, then. Okay.

[miss_s_b]

Man I'm hungry now

[highlyeccentric]

:D:D:D

[sabotabby]

Okay, that sounds AMAZING.

[highlyeccentric]

I can report it tastes pretty good warmed up and on bread the next day, too! If I had a jaffle iron I'd try that...

[northlands]

Yum.

Thank you for posting this. Going to make it soon.