Spicy red-lentil and butternut squash dahl with basmati rice and sheep’s milk yoghurt

A thick, creamy, juicy and sumptuous dahl

Published originally on my blog on 28 February 2016

It was freezing cold and raining on Thursday morning when suddenly, while I was in my car, driving, the rain turned into snow. Huge snowflakes, the biggest I have ever seen, started falling from the sky, landing on the windscreen ever so gently and quietly, making me feel like I was standing in the middle of a snow globe.

The whole day, all I could think of was coming home and having a cozy and comforting dinner. I was craving something hot and spicy because there’s nothing like spicy food to warm you up on a cold winter’s day.

I had a small butternut squash that I’d bought the previous day to make into a soup, but the plans had changed. I was going to make a dahl; a red-lentil and butternut squash dahl. Indian food for the soul.

There were tomatoes involved and fiery dried red chilli flakes. Peppery fresh ginger and bitter cumin. Onions and garlic, of course. Golden turmeric and fragrant fresh coriander. The result was a thick, creamy, juicy and sumptuous dahl that was deeply aromatic and spicy without blowing your socks off, with sweetness from the tender pumpkin and mellow earthiness from the lentils.

There was nutty, fluffy basmati rice accompanying the dahl and some tangy, creamy sheep’s milk yoghurt to soothe the palate. And it was wonderful. It was all we needed on that cold Thursday.

P.S. One of my recipes was published in the March issue of Cosmopolitan magazine (Greek edition). Yay! You can check it out if you are in Greece.

Spicy red-lentil and butternut squash dahl with basmati rice and sheep’s milk yoghurt

Dahl is an Indian thick stew made with legumes (primarily lentils).

For my taste, this dish is not too spicy and I wouldn’t suggest you change the amount of chilli flakes added. If however you can’t handle spicy food, then reduce to 1 tsp chilli flakes.

Dahls are traditionally topped with a tarka before serving, which is a mixture of spices that are fried quickly over high heat, but I didn’t add any to this dahl as I wanted to keep it light.