Pumpin Dal
This creamy pumpkin dal is the ultimate cosy autumn meal, made with roasted pumpkin, garlic, onion, ginger and lentils, then topped with fragrant Indian chilli oil, plant cream and crunchy roasted pumpkin seeds. It's packed with plant-based protein and fibre, full of warming flavour and surprisingly simple to make. A delicious vegan dinner that's perfect for pumpkin season, batch cooking and chilly evenings.
Servings: 4 people
Calories:
Ingredients
- 1 medium pumpkin about 1.2–1.5 kg whole, or approximately 800–900 g prepared flesh
- 2 large onions roughly chopped
- 1 whole bulb of garlic
- 30 g fresh ginger
- 500 g cooked lentils drained and rinsed if using canned
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt or to taste
- 150 –250 ml water or vegetable stock as needed
- For the Indian chilli oil
- 2 tbsp coriander seeds
- 1 tbsp mustard seeds
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 10 –12 curry leaves
- 2 tbsp chilli powder
- 120 ml neutral oil
- To serve
- 100 ml plant-based cream
- 50 g pumpkin seeds
- Fresh coriander optional
- Lemon or lime wedges optional
Instructions
- Roast the pumpkin and aromatics
- Preheat your oven and prepare the pumpkin by removing the seeds and cutting the flesh into chunks.
- Don't throw away the seeds — set them aside to roast for the topping.
- Add the pumpkin, onion, garlic and ginger to a roasting tray. Drizzle with oil and roast until the pumpkin is completely tender and the vegetables are caramelised around the edges.
- The garlic, onion and ginger will become sweeter and more mellow as they roast, which creates a much richer flavour than simply adding them raw to the blender.
- Clean the pumpkin seeds, removing as much of the pumpkin flesh as possible.
- Toss them with a little oil and roast until golden and crisp.
- Keep an eye on them towards the end as they can go from golden to burnt fairly quickly.
- Once the roasted vegetables are ready, transfer the pumpkin, onion, garlic and ginger to a blender.
- Add the cooked lentils to a saucpean with the blended pumpkin.
- Taste and season.
- Make the Indian chilli oil
- Add the coriander seeds, mustard seeds, fennel seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves to a heatproof bowl.
- Heat the oil until hot, then carefully pour it over the spices.
- Add the chilli powder and stir.
- Spoon the creamy pumpkin dal into bowls.
- Drizzle generously with the Indian chilli oil.
- Add a swirl of plant cream and finish with the roasted pumpkin seeds.
- If using, finish with fresh coriander and a squeeze of lemon or lime.