Vegan Dal Makhani
I don’t know what it is about curries, but they always make me feel so comforted. The warmness, the creamy, thick texture and all the beautiful spices - they just make me happy! So, naturally I am always trying to recreate vegan versions of popular curries. Next up is this Vegan Dal Makhani: creamy, rich, thick, packed with fibre-rich lentils, cashew and tofu cream, and with a slightly spicy after thought. If you’ve never tried it before, this is your sign to change that.
Serves: 4-6 | Total Cooking Time: 40-60 minutes
Ingredients
Spice mix:
1.5 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp mild chilli powder
4 green cardamom pods, seeds only
1 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg (aka. just a pinch)
1/5 tsp ground cloves (aka. a slightly bigger pinch!)
1 tbsp garam masala,
1 tbsp curry powder,
1 tsp salt,
Sprinkle of black pepper
Curry base:
1 large white onion, diced finely
2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp tomato puree
600ml vegetable stock (1 veg stock cube mixed with 600ml boiling water)
1 bay leaf
500g cooked urad dal (or, for ease, you could use pre-cooked black lentils)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp plant-based butter
Cashew and tofu cream:
70g cashews
150g silken tofu
1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
Heat the some oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add all of the spices from the spice mix list. Cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently, until fragrant.
Add the onions, garlic and ginger, stirring occasionally, until everything starts to brown (around 5 to 7 minutes). Add in a few splashes of water towards the end to help prevent all the flavours from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add in the tomato paste and tomatoes, and cook until softened (2-3 minutes).
Pour in the vegetable stock and scrape up any browned bits to deglaze the pan. Add in the bay leaf and lentils, and stir well.
Bring to a simmer. Stir every 10 minutes for at least 30 minutes (if you have longer, then I recommend allowing to cook for up to 60 minutes, to really let the flavours flourish and everything to become super creamy). If at any point, it begins to become dry, then just add little splashes of boiling water to the pan.
Begin to make your cashew cream (if using store-brought oat cream or coconut milk, then skip this step and simply add the cream into the pan and mix). Drain your soaked cashews, and place into a blender with the silken tofu and lemon juice. Blitz until smooth, then add into the pan and stir well to combine.
Fish out the cinnamon stick and bay leaf from the pan.
Carefully spoon out 1/3 of the cooked curry and place into a blender cup. Blend for about 20-30 seconds (you want it to be fully blended, but not completely silky smooth). Pour back into the pan and stir. *if you have a pulverising stick, you could alternatively use this to blend up 1/3 the curry whilst still in the pan, rather than using a blender.
Add in the second tbsp of lemon juice and the plant-based butter. Allow the butter to melt, then mix in well.
Take the pan off the heat and serve with some fluffy brown rice, naan, or if you want to go rouge like I do - try it on toast!
If you do make this recipe let me know by sharing a photo with me! I would love more than anything to see your creations.
