Heat your oven to 200°C. Now roughly chop the pumpkin into 4cm cubes. I keep it easy and leave the seeds in and the skin on. Why not? Pop them on a baking tray with a generous pour of coconut oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes or until the edges of the pumpkin are starting to brown.
Finely dice your onion and start sautéing it in a well-oiled pan over a medium heat with the garlic and ginger. You want the onions to sweat and get a little colour rather than be crisp. This should take about 5 minutes. Then stir through all of the spices.
Once the pumpkin is done, pop it into a blender with 2 cups of the liquid you choose. Process until all the seeds are broken down and there are no chunks of the skin left.
Now it’s time to pop everything into your cooking pot, except the coconut cream. I often do mine in the slow cooker but if you have a large pot, go ahead and use that. Pop it on low in the slow cooker for 4 hours or cook over a low to (just) medium heat on the cooktop for 2 hours. Do check your dahl as it’s cooking – you know it’s done when the lentils have lost their ‘bite’.
You want to taste it when it’s done. If it’s still grainy and not smooth, pop the tin of coconut cream in. If you want it even smoother, add two tins. Give it a good season with salt and pepper.
To serve, cook some rice and if your man (or kids!) will allow, chop up the coriander and spinach leaves and stir them through. If you like some heat, sprinkle some chilli on top too.
Stacey Clare’s Nutritional Tip:
Lentils are a fantastic dish to have on the meal plan. They’re high in fibre, full of good protein and cook really quickly. For a dahl, I’ll most often use red lentils. They’re small and once cooked, will tend to lose their shape, helping you thicken your dish and hide the good bits!
Tons more family-friendly slow cooker recipes:
