Courgettes or zucchini make a tasty addition to a classic daal. Frugal, easy to make, healthy and delicious, this courgette red lentil daal is an excellent way to use up a glut of home grown veg! Vegan and naturally gluten free.
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Courgette red lentil daal
Courgettes or zucchini: whatever you call them, if you grow them you have a deep and abiding understanding of the concept of feast or famine. When courgettes are in season, there’s no getting away from them. They’re lunch, supper, pickles and even jams.
Courgettes are delicious simply fried in butter and oil, but that does get to be a little same-y after a while. So we’re always looking for new ideas. This tasty courgette and red lentil daal is a great addition to the recipe collection.
Now, is it dal, dhal, dahl or daal? However you spell it, this savoury lentil-based dish is a delicious, spicy staple that’s easy to make. Mopped up with roti, the traditional Southern Asian flatbreads, or served with rice and curries, it’s comforting, tasty and nutritious too.
Ingredients
- Courgettes – Baby marrows are known by the French term courgette in the UK and the Italian zucchini in the US. Eat them young and fresh, before the seeds develop and the skin thickens.
- Red lentils – The least fussy of all pulses, these keep for ages and don’t need soaking before you cook them.
- Ginger – Fresh or frozen. I keep it in the freezer and grate it as I need it.
- Garlic
- Lemon – juice only
- Spices – curry powder, garam masala, cumin and turmeric
- Vegetable stock
- Coriander leaf (cilantro) – to garnish
How to make courgette/zucchini and red lentil daal
Step one First, fry the spices in a little oil until they’re just starting to give off that delicious fragrance.
Step two Stir in the lentils. Coat them well with the spice and oil mixture.
Step three Add the stock. Grate in the garlic and ginger and then simmer the daal for about 20 minutes. Add a little more stock if necessary.
Fuss Free Tip
Keep your ginger in the freezer, and grate it from frozen. No more worries about unused ginger going soft in the fridge!
Step four Dice and add the courgettes. Simmer for a few minutes more, so that the courgettes cook through.
Step five Add a squeeze of lemon juice and serve.
Serve with our easy pilau rice or spiced flatbread
Courgette and Red Lentil Daal
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp turmeric powder
- 225 g red lentils
- 500 ml stock
- 1 clove garlic
- ½ tsp fresh ginger
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini) (diced)
- ½ lemon
- 2 sprigs coriander (cilantro)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in the pan. Add the spices, stirring all the time. Fry them for a few minutes until they release their aroma.
- Add the lentils and stir for another minute making sure they are well coated with the oil and spice mix.
- Take the pan off the heat to add the stock. Then grate in the garlic and ginger, return to the heat and simmer for 10 mins.
- Add the diced courgette and stir in. Simmer for another 10 mins until the lentils are soft, adding more water when needed. The amount of water you need to add will vary according to how much the courgette absorbs.
- Add a squeeze of lemon juice to taste. It brightens and lifts the entire dish.
- Serve with roti, other flatbreads, or rice, garnished with chopped coriander leaf (cilantro).
Notes
- Freeze ginger root and grate into the daal from frozen.
- Keeps for a few days in the fridge, or make a double batch and freeze.
- Add some extra stock to leftovers and cook for another 10 minutes for a delicious lentil soup.
- Serve with my easy pilau rice.
- This recipe is 15 Weight Watchers Smart Points per portion
Amber Shea @Almost Vegan
I LOVE a good dal.
I also agree with you on food ethics :]
Helen
Such a tasty dish and so simple.
jodye @ 'scend food
I love the many spellings of dahl (I guess that’s the one I immediately think of), but I love how delicious it is even more! This sounds delicious and looks super easy. I shall certainly be giving this a go!
Helen
So easy to make, and tasty every time.
Sarah P
Love daal and will save this for when my courgettes start to grow, and grow, and grow…
That roti machine looks AMAZING!
Helen
the rotimatic is very impressive!
Danielle Wolter
I love the tip about the ginger! I’m going to have to try that. And I’m totally intrigued by the rotimatic (I’m a sucker for kitchen gadgets). I love your post, the step by steps instructions are awesome. And this sound like a delicious recipes, great flavors!
Helen
I was really impressed by the Rotimatic.
Alyssa
THAT ROIT! OMG, they are beautiful. I don’t make roti from scratch very often but I may have to try making these roti (by hand since I don’t have a machine) just to see the pretty colors in person.
Helen
You can certainly make them by hand too, all very pretty.
Suki
I love that the Rotimatic learns as it goes. Just like making roti by hand, the first is never the best and they get better as you progress. Really liking the sound of this helping hand, what a great idea.
Helen
I found it really helpful, and less time spent at the hob rolling and turning.
Fiona Garret
I love making daal, and add whatever I have in at the time. Courgettes is a great addition. The roti making machine is brilliant. Being able to make the dough and roll out, AND cook perfectly.
Helen
Very impressive machine, Fiona.
Mal
Really tasty recipe, you can’t fault a simple dhal. So easy to make and I tend to find I have leftovers for the next day (that always taste better). The Rotimatic would be a great addition to the kitchen.
Helen
Next day daal is always so tasty, good on baked potato I find.
Maggie T
That machine looks amazing! I love my bread machine, throwing the ingredients in and letting it do its work. To be able to make flat bread is a really useful thing. Even does pizza bases. Fab.
Helen
A great addition to the kitchen, very useful.
Mel Jones
I love courgette season, even if you do have to eat it for breakfast! Such a versatile vegetable. Great use of them in your daal recipe.
The Rotimatic looks excellent, what a useful piece of equipment.
Helen
I’m not so sure about courgettes for breakfast.
The Rotimatic is great, very useful.
Demeter
Looks like such a flavorful meal! The Rotimatic really does all the work….how cool! I need to check out!
Helen
The Rotimatic is brilliant, really useful.
Julia
That daal looks delicious! And what? There is such a thing as flatbread making machine? Wow! :)
Helen
Perfect rotis every time!
Ruthy @ Percolate Kitchen
Those roti are so cute, dying over all the different colors!! I gotta check out that rotimaker.
Helen
We love the rotimatic! and the coloured rotis are just for fun!
Darla F
I do like having roti with Indian food, such a good accompaniment. Never tried making them before, so would love a machine that can do the work for me.
Helen
Homemade roti are delicious Darla.
Mia Robb
Daal is such a good wholesome meal. I love dishes made with lentils, so tasty and always fills me up.
Helen
We love lentils too, so good.
Mandy
The rotimatic looks brilliant. Love the colours you have made. Wish my attempts at any flat bread making had been as successful.
Helen
The machine makes it easy.
Dave
Great looking bread machine for making roti. If I had the room in my kitchen it would be a nice addition. Unfortunately, my kitchen is a broom cupboard.
Helen
You need a bigger kitchen, Dave.
Balbir S
Dahl is such an easy meal to make, and good for making a large amount of. I like adding small aubergine, but courgette sounds very nice.
Helen
Aubergine sounds delicious too.
Paul Holzherr
If I may add to the tip for freezing ginger – and that is to wash it when bought and then to freeze the whole thing and then take it out of the freezer about 5 minutes before grating. This makes it MUCH easier to grate, skin and all.
Pete
Has anybody really found this recipe to work with just 225ml stock? I ended up using about double that. Did I possibly do something wrong..?
Helen
Hi Pete,
It sounds as if a gremlin has crept in somewhere, i’ll check the recipe and edit if needed.