Spicy Lentil Dahl

I have been making a lot of lentil and tomato soup recently, which we all really love. It's very filling, low fat and so very easy to make. However you can have too much of a good thing. For a change for lunch today I made this spicy lentil Dahl. Using a combination of recipes I found on the internet, and a little tweaking to accommodate the ingredients I had, I ended up with this. Really lovely with a squeeze of fresh lemon and a toasted pitta bread.

Ingredients
Serve 4 for lunch size portions
A little oil for frying
1 medium onion, chopped
1 red chilli or 1 tsp chilli powder
1 thumb sized piece of ginger, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp turmeric
¼ tsp cinnamon
Approx 250g red lentils
1 pint of vegetable stock
Fresh spinach or frozen spinach (optional)
A squeeze of lemon juice (optional)

Method
Heat the oil in a heavy based pan, and fry the onion, garlic and ginger until cooked. Add the chopped chilli and fry for a little longer. Add the spices and the lentils and stir until the lentils are coated with the spices. Add the stock then simmer for about 20 minutes until the lentils are soft. Add the spinach if using and cook until it has wilted. Season with salt and pepper and serve with toasted pitta bread and a squeeze of lemon juice.

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