Spinach and sweet potato Chana Dal

Baby its cold outside.... So it's time to start cooking warming hearty food again, this doesn't mean it has to be unhealthy or overly heavy. A couple of weeks ago I bought Chana Dal in the supermarket when I was restocking on lentil type things. This is the first time I have ever made something with them, so we shall have to wait and see how it turns out, though I'm pretty confident that enough spices will make everything ok.

Spinach and Sweet potato Chana dal curry type thing

1 sweet potato, skin on, chopped into 1cm cubes

1/2 cup chana dal, prepared for cooking as per packet instructions

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 green chillis, 1 left whole, one chopped

100g frozen spinach (this is a total guess as to the quantity I used)

1 tsp tumeric

3 cardamom pods

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp fenugreek powder

salt

oil for frying

Arrange the sweet potato cubes on an oven tray, drizzle with a little oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180C until the cubes are tender. Remove from the oven and set aside.

Boil the chana dal with 1 tsp tumeric, the whole chilli and the cardamom pods until cooked, around 30 mins for me. Drain if any water remains and set aside.

Meanwhile heat a heavy based frying pan with a little oil. Add the spices and fry until fragrant, then add the garlic chilli and onion. Turn the heat down and cook for around 5 minutes until the onion is soft, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach and stir well, adding about 1/4 cup of water, or more if desired. After around 10 minutes mix in the sweet potato and adjust seasoning, I always find that what appears to be a lot of salt is required. 

Stir the spinach mix into the cooked dal, check seasoning and mix well. Serve with or without rice and yoghurt. 

My curry turned out to be pretty spicy so I stirred a few spoonfuls of yoghurt through it towards the end of cooking. Got to say for an experiment it turned out pretty well