This vegan lentil recipe is a hearty and easy weeknight supper that can be made with just a few ingredients. Serve with a cucumber salad for a cooling touch.

Never in my life have I ever made lentils before. I always thought them to be mushy. I once tried a friend’s dahl and hated the texture, and it put me off. However, since moving to Manchester me and my girlfiend have been wanting to cut down our meat intake, and I thought I’d give it a go.

Vegan lentil recipe

This healthy vegan lentil recipe is so easy to make, and I got the idea from MOB (again). One of their guest chefs created a recipe for jerk lentils, which is where I got inspiration from. I’ve changed the recipe up a bit because I was missing some ingredients, but I loved the result I made up.

This recipe takes around an hour to make, but most of it is simmering time, meaning that you can put it on early in the evening and just give it a stir every now and then. I’ve also given you the option to change up the spice levels of this recipe. The original is very very spicy and I knew I wouldn’t be able to manage it, so I toned it down, but if you love heat feel free to add more spice.

Indian cucumber salad recipe

I chose to add a side to the dish because I felt like it needed some freshness. Although the lentils are really tasty, they’re a bit stodg. This Indian-inspired cucumber salad is really, really light and tasty, with a kick of spice (which you can leave out if you don’t like!)

I’m definitely not the expert in lentils, and as this is my first lentil recipe I wasn’t sure about the outcome, but it really is delicious. If you give it a try, let me know and I hope you enjoy!

Spiced vegan lentils recipe

Preperation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Servings: 4

Ingredients for spiced lentils

• 250g green lentils
• 1 white onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely diced
• 1 chilli (I used a red chilli but use less if you don’t like spice and use a scoth bonnet if you love it!)
• 1/4 inch ginger, finely diced
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1-2tsp cumin
• 1 tsp mixed herbs
• 1 tsp all spice (if you have)
• 2 tsp veg stock powder in 500ml boiling water.
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

1. Add a little oil to a large frying pan, then add the onions and cook until they are starting to brown. Add the garlic and chilli and cook until fragrant.
2. Add the spices all in one go and fry them off for a couple of minutes till they are fragrant.
3. Add the tomatoes, sugar and lentils. Stir and simmer for a few mins, then pour in half of the stock. Reduce the heat down till on a medium simmer and then leave to cook. Season well with salt.
4. If you notice that the lentils are running out of water but are not cooked, gradually add stock, a little bit of the time, until the lentils are cooked.
5. The end result should be a rich and stodgy sauce, it shouldn’t be too liquidy. The lentils should be soft but they should also be whole. If they’re all broken up, you’ve over cooked them. If they are still hard and floury when you bite into them, cook a little bit longer.
6. Serve with a sprinking of fresh chilli and coriander.

How to make Indian cucumber salad

Preperation time: 10 mins

Cooking time: 0 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients for cucumber salad

• 1/2 a cucumber, chopped
• 1/4 red onion, very finely diced
• 8 plum tomatoes, chopped
• Handful of coriander, finely chopped
• 1 chilli of your choice (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt and pepper

1. Chop the cucumber finely and add it to a bowl. Dice the onion very, very finely and add, along with the chopped tomatoes.
2. Add the chilli and chopped coriander. Drizzle with lemon juice and sprinkle over salt and pepper.
3. Stir to combine, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
4. Serve!

Tip: serve with homemade roti (a simple mix of flour and water that you roll out thin and cook in a dry frying pan) or with store-bought naan or flatbreads.

If you’ve accidentally made your lentils too spicy, make a light coriander yoghurt to go with the lentils to cool them down.