Just a note about one of the tastiest dals I’ve made recently: a very rich flavour and no-where near as much fire as I normally like. This is apparently not too far from gujurati style.

Ingredients

• 228g oily toor dal
• 114g sweet potato, chopped
• 3 tsp cashew nuts
• 2 tsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp jaggery goor (palm sugar) – you could use normal brown sugar
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp coriander paste

1. Wash and drain the dal.
2. Place it in a pan with 750 ml water, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Rinse and drain the dal.
4. Meanwhile, place the sweet potato in another pan with a modicum of water, bring to the boil and simmer until very soft, then drain the sweet potato.
5. Fry the cumin seeds until they begin to pop, then add the garlic, ginger paste, chilli powder and turmeric.
6. Lightly fry this mixture until the curry scent begins to evolve, then add the tomatoes.
   Fry this mixture lightly until it has reduced and thickened significantly.
7. Meanwhile lightly toast the cashew nuts in a dry frying-pan
8. Mash the lentils and sweet potato, then add the tomato mix, cashew nuts and jaggery goor.
9. Add a modicum of water, bring to the boil and lightly simmer while you cook the accompaniments.
10. Just before serving, add in the lemon juice and coriander paste.

I served this with couscous and boiled curly cale.

• 150g dry couscous
• 200ml hot vegetable stock
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp coriander paste

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl, cover with cling-film and leave for 10-15 minutes.

OK, nothing earth-shattering but both my hostess (who has a very low capsaicin tolerance) and I (who likes a bit of burn) enjoyed this.