Dhaal

Sometimes all you want is some lentils and rice - simple, nourishing food. There are so many different ways of making dhaal, that I have a different method of each different type of lentil. Yesterday, I used green lentils. These need to soak in cold water for a couple of hours before you use them. I used the stuff below to flavour them

Ingredients

Green lentils

Clove of garlic

A couple of green chillies

Cinamon stick

Ginger

A few cardamon pods

Vegetable stock

Coconut milk

Rice

Olive oil

Salt

Once I'd soaked the lentils, I fried the chopped chillies, garlic and ginger off in some olive oil for a couple of minutes before adding them, plus the stock, to the pan. I then added the tin of coconut milk, cinamon and cardamon seeds, as well as plenty of salt. This needed to be cooked for about 45 in total. Therefore, I put the rice on after about 25 minutes

I cooked and ate this dinner in cyberspace, somewhere between London and Athens. I was skyping with my friend Karina for about 3 hours, who was also cooking dinner. So it was a really lovely evening, sharing a meal and a couple of glasses of wine while catching up with someone who lives so far away.

And here's another type of dhaal recipe