Dhal with Spinach and Green Peas [vegetarian/vegan]

It is thanks to Dhal that I started to appreciate lentils. I used to find them quite bland and uninteresting but when I tried them combined with spices like e.g. turmeric, paprika, ginger or chilli, I realized how tasty and appealing lentils could be.

Tarka Dhal was the first dish of this kind I had many years ago and I simply loved it. And I still do when it is on a table at my home or in a restaurant along with kormas or baltis: moving from one taste to another is just such a wonderful experience. But what to do if there is not enough time to cook more than one dish? Then, I guess, we can cook dhal with some extras like for example spinach and green peas as in the recipe below.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

2 shallots, thinly chopped,

1 tbsp olive oil,

4 garlic cloves, thinly cut,

1 chilli pepper, thinly chopped,

2 tsp grated ginger,

0.5 tsp turmeric,

1 tsp mild paprika,

250g red lentils, rinsed,

600 ml water,

6 tomatoes on the vine, peeled and chopped,

100g frozen green peas,

2 handfuls of spinach, roughly chopped,

Juice from 0.5 lime,

Salt and pepper

METHOD:

1. On a medium heat warm up the olive oil, add the chopped shallots and fry for 1 minute.
2. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli; fry stirring occasionally for 3-4 minutes.  Be careful with adding chilli as smaller peppers are spicier than bigger ones. So you may want to add less at the beginning and - depending on how spicy you would like your dish to be – add more later.
3. Add turmeric and paprika fry for 2 minutes more.
4. Stir in the lentils, add water, bring to boil and cook for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to make sure the Dhal doesn't burn. If necessary, add more water.
5. Add the green peas, lime juice and seasoning and at the end stir in the spinach.