This bacon and butternut squash dahl is a dirt-cheap meal to make - we use our Instant Pot Duo because honestly, it's easy just to chuck everything in and let it do the hard work, but a dahl is equally as happy burbling away on the hob on the lowest possible heat. You can swap the coconut milk for stock if you like, but this serves eight so I wouldn't worry about the syns.
If you don't want to fart about with all the spices, just use a tablespoon of curry powder. I won't tell yer ma.
Between eight, this is around 141 calories a portion. And that's including the coconut milk! Shut the front door.
Ingredients
one large leek or one large onion, chopped finely
six rashers of bacon, chopped finely
if you're omitting the bacon, add a pinch more salt
one butternut squash, peeled and chopped into 1cm chunks
400g red lentils
400ml of light Blue Dragon coconut milk (14 syns, but worth it)
two tablespoons of freshly chopped garlic
two tablespoons of freshly chopped ginger
two teaspoons of garam masala
half a teaspoon of cinnamon
one tablespoon of turmeric
one tin of chopped tomatoes
a tablespoon of chilli flakes (I like it spicy)
good pinch of salt and a lot of pinches of black pepper
750ml of water
Instructions
Instant Pot method
press saute, add a bit of oil (not too much, as the bacon will provide plenty) and gently saute the onion and bacon until the bacon is just cooked through
add the garlic and ginger and cook for another couple of minutes
add the chunks of butternut squash and all of the spices / chilli flakes and cook for a couple of minutes - add a splash of water if it's catching
add all the water and have a bloody good root around with a wooden spoon - you want to make sure there's nothing stuck on the bottom of the pan here
add the coconut milk, lentils, tomatoes, stir once and pop the lid on
seal the vent, select PRESSURE COOK and then programme it to cook for 10 minutes on high pressure
once it's done, allow it to vent, give it a stir and allow it to cool
On the hob
I mean, you can work it out - saute the bacon and leeks/onion, add the ingredients as above, leave to burble
Notes
we find this even nicer the day after, and serve with red pepper pitta breads
remember - our slimming cookbook is now generally always at £9.99 and can be ordered online now - full of 100+ slimming recipes, and bloody amazing! Click here to order