Golden vegetable dhal with soft-boiled eggs
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Karen Thomas
Golden vegetable dhal with soft-boiled eggs
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
432Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
3gr
Carbs
40gr
Sugars
7gr
Fibre
7gr
Salt
0.4gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 250g dried red lentils, rinsed
- 1 onion, very finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, about 150g, diced
- 50g root ginger, peeled and grated
- ½ tbsp ground turmeric
- 1 large courgette, about 225g, diced
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 red chilli, halved and finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp cumin seeds
- 4 tbsp chopped coriander
Step by step
Get ahead
The dhal keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge, or can be frozen.
- Tip the rinsed lentils into a large pan and add 800ml cold water. Bring to the boil, and skim off any froth. Stir in the onion, carrot, ginger, turmeric and ½ teaspoon of salt. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, then add the courgette. Cover partially and cook for another 5 minutes or until the lentils are soft. Give it all a good stir so the lentils break up to form the substance of the dhal, studded with the vegetables.
- Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to the boil, lower in the eggs and cook for 6 minutes for soft yolks, 7 minutes if you want just a bit of squidge in the centre. Rinse in cold water.
- Put the oil in a small pan with the chilli, garlic and cumin seeds. Heat gently until the garlic is pale golden and the seeds and chilli are sizzling. Remove from the heat and stir half the spiced oil into the dhal then check the seasoning. Divide the dhal between 4 shallow bowls and scatter with coriander.
- Peel and halve the eggs; if they are soft-boiled, cut them in half over the dhal so you don’t lose any of the yolk. Serve on top of the dhal and drizzle with the rest of the spiced oil.
Chef quote
Small but mighty, lentils are a good source of soluble fibre, and eggs contain two nutrients that are not present in many other foods – iodine and vitamin D. Simmering veg in the dhal adds bulk and extra vitamins.
