Perfect comfort food
- May 1
- 2 min read
From Sunshine Café and Yoga comes this ever-popular grounding dal.
For over five millennia, dal has simmered at the heart of the subcontinent’s story, its name drawn from the Sanskrit dal – to split – echoing the humble lentil at its core. From the ritual texts of the Vedic age to the prescriptions of Ayurveda, it was as much nourishment for the body as it was a marker of cultural continuity. Empires rose and fell, yet dal endured, evolving from everyday sustenance to courtly indulgence under the Mughals, its richness deepened with spice, butter and time. Today, it remains a dish that bridges history, geography and the enduring pull of the everyday table.
The Sunshine Cafe Grounding Dal Recipe
Serves: 2-4 (depending on portion size)
Ingredients:
1 cup of red lentils
1 tbsp olive/vegetable oil
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic
A thumb of fresh ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fenugreek
1 tin of coconut milk
½ a roasted sweet potato cut into small chunks (prepped and roasted previously)
A handful of spinach
Method
Chop onion, garlic and ginger into small chunks, fry in a deep saucepan in the oil. Stir regularly until cooked softly through.
Wash the lentils and add them to the pan along with the ground spices. Cover the lentils with boiling water and pop a lid on the saucepan for 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them whilst they cook and add a little more water if needed.
Add in the coconut milk, roasted sweet potato chunks and spinach. Stir regularly and cook for another 5 minutes.
Plate up and enjoy! We recommend serving with a slice of sourdough, naan bread or flat bread and topped with some roasted tamari seeds and homemade pesto.
