Creamy coconut & spinach dhal

Name: Creamy coconut & spinach dhal
Cuisine: Asian, Indian
Ingredients: 300g red lentils; 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 red onion finely chopped; 1 tsp cumin seeds; 1 tsp turmeric; 2 large tomatoes (around 225g) roughly chopped; 400ml can coconut milk; 100g quinoa; 320g baby spinach; 100g basmati rice; 25g coriander leaves chopped, to serve; ½ cucumber deseeded and finely chopped; 2 tomatoes finely chopped; ½ red onion finely diced; ½ lemon juiced; 2 green chillies halved; 6 garlic cloves thinly sliced; 1 tsp chilli powder (optional)

Instructions

"This meal is a complete hug in a bowl. Substituting half of the rice for quinoa not only adds extra wholegrain goodness but also boosts the meal's fibre and protein content. Alternatively, wholegrain brown rice serves as an excellent alternative. A squeeze of lemon juice is an excellent way to include vitamin C, aiding in the absorption of iron from the lentils and spinach." — Dr Chintal Patel

Updated at: Fri, 07 Nov 2025 03:37:52 GMT