Dhal curry

Serves 6

• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 225g red lentils
• 5 charlottes potatoes diced
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 1 big onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove , crushed
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 tblsp desiccated coconut 
• Spinach to taste (I use frozen spinach)
• Roasted sliced almond to taste ( provided by approved food)

In a saucepan containing 850 ml of water add one teaspoon each of ginger, cumin, turmeric and salt, then bring it all to the boil. Stir in the lentils, let it come back to a gentle simmer and cook for 5 minutes. After that add the diced potato and continue cooking until the lentils have turned mushy (making sure the mixture doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan by giving it a stir now and again).

While that's cooking, heat up the oil in another pan and fry the onion (over a fairly high heat) until the onion has browned – then lower the heat and stir in the curry powder (if you like your curries hotter, you can add more), the garlic, the coconut and the chopped tomatoes. Cook for a minute before adding to the lentil mixture, add the spinach then taste, season with more salt and cook gently for a further 5-10 minutes (stirring from time to time).

Serve with rice or just like this with a naan bread, add the almonds. 

The almonds really adds something to this recipe, it's crunchy and very tasty !