This healthy 1-pot lentil dal is creamy, satisfying and a great vegan comfort meal. The recipe is prepared in one pot and is very easy to make.
One Pot Lentil Dal with carrots
Some people call it dal, dhal, dahl or daal. To me the name isn’t important, I just love this delicious creamy dish. If you often crave comfort meals, then you should give this lentil dal a try. The recipe is vegan, gluten-free, healthy, and satisfying. And the best thing is that it’s cooked in one pot!
So creamy and flavorful
This easy to make lentil dal is very creamy because it contains coconut milk which makes it rich and tasty. Of course, you could use any other plant-based milk or cream, however, in my opinion, it just won’t taste as good.
The flavorful spices will turn your kitchen into an Indian bazaar because of all the wonderful aromas. Seriously, I just love Indian spices, especially turmeric and cumin. They are so healthy and important for a good dal or curry.
Healthy Lentil Dal
I am sure you know how healthy turmeric is. It’s an incredible superfood with absolutely amazing health properties. It contains high levels of a powerful antioxidant called curcumin. Curcumin is activated by black pepper to increase its bioavailability and balance inflammation throughout the body. That’s why it’s important to not only consume turmeric on its own but always add some black pepper!
The best solution would be to use Sunfood’s Super Blend which not only contains black pepper, but also other spices like ginger root, cinnamon, cardamom, and a few other complementary ingredients like Boswellia, stevia, maca, and goji berry.
I love to make Golden Milk with this healthy Super Blend, but very often I also add it to curries and dal, like today.
This lentil dal is:
- Healthy
- Vegan
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
- High in antioxidants
- Plant-based
- Easy to make
- Cooked in 1 pot
Great for lunch, dinner or meal prep
This lentil dal is seriously a great comfort food and I eat it quite often for dinner. However, it’s also great as meal prep and I love how versatile it is. You can eat it with (basmati) rice, potatoes or flatbread and it never gets boring.
If you make this lentil dal and maybe even take a photo of it, then I would love to see it. You can DM it to me on Instagram. Don’t forget to tag me in your Insta caption + photo with @elavegan and use the hashtag #elavegan and I will gladly check out your post.
1-Pot-Lentil Dal
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry lentils (*see recipe notes) (190 g)
- 1 large finely diced carrot (*see recipe notes) (about 200 g)
- 1 large onion chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tsp fresh ginger minced
- 1 red or green chili pepper seeds removed
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 3 cups vegetable broth (720 ml)
- 1 cup canned coconut milk (*see recipe notes) (240 ml)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- Sea salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 tsp Sunfood's Golden Milk Super Blend (*see recipe notes)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Rinse lentils under running water. I prefer to soak the lentils for about 10-15 minutes in lukewarm water because they are better digested this way (this step is optional). Drain the water afterwards.
- Meanwhile, chop the onion, garlic, ginger, chili pepper, and carrot (*see recipe notes below). Heat oil in a pot, stir in the onion and fry for about 3-4 minutes over medium heat. Add soy sauce, carrot, garlic, ginger, chili and reduce the heat to low.
- Now add all spices (ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground coriander), red pepper flakes (optional), the lentils and 3 cups of vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Finally, add coconut milk and cook for a further 10 minute or until the desired thickness of the lentil dal is reached. Season with black pepper, salt, and Sunfood's Golden Milk Super Blend (*see recipe notes). Taste and adjust the seasonings as to your preference.
- Serve warm with basmati rice, potatoes, or naan bread (flatbread), garnish with fresh herbs.
Notes
- I typically use brown lentils which cook in about 20-25 minutes.
- You can also use sweet potato instead of carrot.
- It's possible to use any plant-based cream (like soy cream, oat cream etc) instead of canned coconut milk. However, in my opinion, this lentil dal tastes best with coconut milk.
- Sunfood's Super Blend is an amazing product on its own to make healthy Golden Milk but I also love adding it to Dal and Curries. It contains turmeric, black pepper, ginger, maca, goji berry, Boswellia, cinnamon, cardamom, and stevia. When I run out, I use 1 tsp of Sunfood's turmeric powder with a pinch of black pepper and 1/2 tsp of coconut sugar.
- Recipe serves 4. Nutrition facts are for one serving.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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This Lentil Dal is just perfect! Easy to prepare and so delicious! Thank you so much for the recipe <3
You are so welcome, Marina! 🙂
This recipe is AWESOME! I have never made Dal before but I made this for my friends and I and we LOVED it!!! Thank you! So much fun flavor!
That’s good to hear, Maddie! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
Made this for the family today. It was easy to make a d very delicious. When they gi back fir seconds and thirds, you know you have a great recipe! Thank you, Ela, for your wonderful recipe and blog. I will be trying more of your recioes!
Sounds wonderful! Thanks so much for your great feedback, April. 🙂
I selected this recipe for my husband to make and it was delicious. He tends to follow recipes very precisely and the flavour combinations that resulted were spot on. Definitely one that we will make again.
That’s wonderful, Jackie! I am so glad you both enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Hello, I made this last night and it tastes even better in the AM. I made mine in an INSTANT POT because why not? Lol. Anyway, I followed all of the ingredients except the sunfood’s super blend. I just used the suggested additional turmeric, black pepper and coconut sugar. I also adjusted the liquids because with an instant pot you dont need so many liquids. I used the whole can of coconut milk and 2 cups of vegetable broth instead of the 3 cups. In hindsight I could have used maybe 1.5 cups so it was less liquidy but overall it was still great because it thickens when it cools. Also, I added some diced potatoes with the carrots. I cooked it on high pressure for 8 minutes and did a quick release. I probably could have cooked it a little longer but I was afraid the carrot and potato would get too mushy. Some of the lentils didn’t cook all the way but it just added some perfect al denteness to the whole dish.
This is a real tasty recipe. Thank you.
I am glad you liked it, Sally! 🙂
Thanks so much for your helpful comment, Sally! I am sure many readers will appreciate it. 🙂
Love this recipe. So pleased someone provided the instant pot version of it. Thank you!
Awesome! Glad you liked the recipe. 🙂
Hi,
I made the dal today, we’re hoping to cut down on eating so much meat, it’s delicious,
Thanks very much
Lisa
Sounds fantastic, Lisa! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂