My coconut dal is inspired by the amazing fresh coconut based curries I had the great pleasure of eating in Kerala at the end of last year.

They use fresh coconut in so many delicious dishes, and they have an ingenious little coconut meat shredding tool.

As I don’t have one, I thought I’d use organic, unsweetened, desiccated coconut, and it worked like a dream.

I’ve got to say I’m super happy with this recipe. Not only does it taste great, it’s simple to make, and it’s wholesome and nutritious. Three big ticks!

I’m also experimenting and looking into not using my usual tomatoes and garlic as the base for some of my recipes. This is another tip I learnt in India where onions, spices, and water form the base of lots of curries, and they’re still truly delicious.

So my super simple dal is made like this; fry onions then spices in some coconut oil, wash your red lentils, add them to the pan with water, simmer for 15 minutes then finally stir in the desiccated coconut, season, and that’s it!! Couldn’t be simpler, and it’s absolutely delicious.

And of course, I topped the dal with my new obsession–toasted sunflower seeds. Just dry fried for a few minutes until they become slightly toasted and nutty. Guaranteed to enhance any meal.

Enjoy, love Niki xx