Hearty and delicious oil-free vegan dal recipe with millet and black Beluga lentils. You’ll only need 30 minutes to prepare this simple and quick dal.
I love this vegan dal recipe because:
- It’s so quick and easy.
- Makes a perfect weekday dinner.
- Is ideal for batch cooking.
The Ingredients
Like all my recipes, also this vegan dal consists of only whole food plant-based ingredients.
The main ingredients are millet and black Beluga lentils. Now, I chose to soak the lentils to make them easier to digest as well as quicker to cook. Millet, on the other hand, is the only grain (I assume) that doesn’t require soaking. Instead, give it a thorough rinse before cooking.
Next, our vegan dal needs to be spiced up and flavoured. Here I can relay on the help of my dry roasted Indian spice mix, turmeric, pepper, onions and garlic. In case you’re in a hurry and lack time to dry roast the spices yourself, feel free to use store bought curry powder or garam masala mix.
Let’s not forget about carrot that I tend to add to almost all my stew, curry or dal recipes. It’s simply because carrots add extra flavour as well as some beautiful orange to the final dish.
Finally, for heartiness, I add some coconut milk and nutritional yeast to this vegan dal recipe. You don’t need to worry though as nutritional yeast is totally optional. Furthermore, coconut butter is also a great substitute for coconut milk.
What about salt you might ask? To be honest, I do add a bit of miso or tamari to my own dish. However, I find the dal already quite full of flavour per se. In case you’re following the Plantricious guidelines, add no more than half a teaspoon of Himalayan salt to the recipe.
The Story
Notably, there’s a story behind this delicious and satiating vegan dal recipe. Unfortunately it’s a quite blunt one I’m afraid 🙂 The truth is, this particular vegan dal recipe was born out of necessity.
It was already evening and I needed to fix something for dinner. Now, the only staples I could find were millet and Beluga lentils. Very well, I thought, I’ll just make a dal with what I have on hand.
Since I had no time to soak my lentils, I simply rinsed them along with millet and cooked them then and there. However, soaking is highly recommended because of reduced cooking time, enhanced vitamin and mineral absorption, and easier digestion. Moreover, soaking gets rid of most of the black colour that would otherwise leach into your dal turning the colour quite unflattering.
The outcome was a very satisfying and hearty dish, which I served with steamed kale, boiled beetroot and sauerkraut. My 10-year-old was enjoying the dal a lot comparing it to savoury porridge. By the way, it’s a compliment coming from his mouth 🙂
To sum it up, this tasty and filling vegan dal recipe is:
- Gluten-free
- Low-fat
- Oil-free
- Soy-free
- Nut-free and peanut-free
- Candida diet friendly
- Allergy-friendly
- Low glycemic
Vegan Dal Recipe with Millet and Lentils
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Hearty and delicious oil-free vegan dal recipe with millet and black Beluga lentils. You’ll only need 30 minutes to prepare this simple and quick dal.
Soaking time: 4-6 hours
Ingredients
- 150 g (5 ounces) beluga lentils
- 100 g (3.5 ounces) millet
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tbsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp Indian spice mix
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- A pinch of black pepper
- ½ cup (125 ml) coconut milk
- Water – as much as needed for required consistency/thickness
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- Start by soaking Beluga lentils for at least 6 hours. Then drain and rinse.
- Next, rinse the millet very well.
- In a medium saucepan on high heat, add 1 tablespoon of water. When the water begins to sputter, add the chopped onion, and cook stirring for about 3 minutes, adding water just as needed to prevent sticking (one tbsp at a time).
- Now add chopped carrot and bay leaf along with lentils and millet. Pour in hot water, a little bit over the level of the ingredients and cook until the lentils are tender, 15-20 minutes. Check the water level during simmering and add more if necessary.
- When the dal is cooked, stir in garlic powder, coconut milk, turmeric, pepper, and crushed Indian spice mix.
- Finally, mix in nutritional yeast.
Notes
I’d strongly recommend soaking the black lentils because it’ll reduce cooking time, enhance vitamin and mineral absorption, and ease the digestion. Moreover, soaking gets rid of most of the black colour that would otherwise leach into your dal turning the colour quite unflattering.
Feel free to use 1½ tablespoon of store bought curry powder or garam masala mix instead of turmeric and Indian spice mix for convenience. However, be careful if the powder contains hot spices like chilli. In case you’re sensitive to hot spices, use less.
A tablespoon of coconut butter makes an excellent replacement for coconut milk. Simply mix it into the ready dal.
Fresh garlic can be added instead of garlic powder. I’d suggest crushing a few cloves into the dal when it has cooled down a bit to preserve the beneficial allicin.
For a balanced meal, serve with plenty of greens (raw, steamed or boiled) and other veggies. Learn How to Cook Vegetables to Retain Nutrients.
Finally, if you feel that you need to add some salt, don’t go over half a teaspoon of Himalayan salt to keep this recipe Plantricious. Half a teaspoon results in 298.8mg of sodium per serving.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
- Method: Stove
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Quarter of the recipe
- Calories: 309 kcal
- Sodium: 22.8mg
- Fat: 6.8g
- Carbohydrates: 38.6g
- Fiber: 11.1g
- Protein: 14.6g
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You’re most welcome to PIN the image below:
This is an absolute winner for me!
Plenty of opportunity to change about the lentils-beans-millet for interesting variations. Goes in my small slow cooker in the morning, and ready and welcoming when I get home.
Thanks.
So happy to hear that David! Thanks for your feedback 🤗