Creamy Roast Pumpkin Black Dahl

This has loads of fun things going on: a rich, dark dahl with loads of warming cardamom, caramelised roast pumpkin, crispy onions and the perkiest fresh green chutney to cut through it all. I’m doubling down on the pumpkin flavour here by stirring it into the dahl and serving it on top too. Eat it with some chapatis and save those leftovers for the freezer. Use oat cream to make this vegan.

ingredients

serves 4-6

•  300g green or brown lentils or black urad dahl, rinsed
  1 cinnamon stick
  800g pumpkin or squash, such as Delica, Kombucha or Crown Prince
  1 large tomato, cut into wedges
  2 red onions, one cut into wedges, the other chopped
  4 tbsp olive oil
  8 cardamom pods, seeds ground
  1 ½ tsp cumin seeds
  1 tsp mustard seeds
  3 garlic cloves, chopped
  1 green chilli, chopped
  3 tbsp double cream or vegan oat cream
  For the coriander chutney
  1 small garlic clove, chopped
  ½ green chilli
  ½ small bunch coriander (60g)
  A handful of mint leaves
  ¼ tsp cumin seeds
  Juice of 1 lime

instructions

Make the lentils first. Place them in a large pan and cover with plenty of water, the cinnamon stick and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to the boil, then summer for approximately 45 minutes or until very soft, a little overcooked is absolutely fine. Top up with water when they need it.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Line a baking tray with greaseproof and rub the pumpkin with 2 tablespoons of olive and seasoning. Spread out on the tray along with the tomato and the onion wedges. Place in the oven for 35-40 minutes until everything is tender and crisp on the edges.

Get ahead with the coriander chutney by placing everything in a blender (chop without the lime juice if using a food processor) and whizzing until smooth with a pinch of salt.

Just before the veg comes out the oven, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium pan and add the crushed cardamom, cumin and mustard seeds. As soon as they begin to sizzle (ie 5 seconds), add the onion, garlic and green chilli and fry, stirring for 8-10 minutes until coloured and soft.

As soon as the veg comes out the oven, strip off the skin of a quarter of the pumpkin slices and throw into the onions with the roast tomato and mash them in so you have a puree. Stir this into the cooked lentils along with the cream. Add a little water so it’s your desired thickness and bring everything up to a simmer.

Cook for 5-10 minutes just to allow everything to mingle, then season to taste and transfer to bowls and top with the pumpkin and crispy onions and spoon over the coriander chutney. Eat with chapatis.