Vegan Sweet Potato Dal

Sweet Potato Dal – A comforting dal based curry prepared using Sweet Potato and it’s Vegan!

Veganism is a type of diet or lifestyle where one excludes meat, eggs, dairy products and all other animal-derived ingredients. A vegan person is someone who chooses to avoid using or consuming animal products. Veganism emerged as a result of leading a cruelty –free lifestyle.

Veganism aims at the below advantages

Avoidance of animal slaughter
Eliminate Health risks
Reduction of environmental footprint

Anything you use on day to day life can be vegan starting from your shampoo, diet and car seats. Anything made up of animal products like wool, leather doesn’t fall under veganism.

A person is truly called as vegan if he determines to avoid the usage of animal prodcuts beyond diet. In recent times, Vegan has become an emerging trend among people and I know few people who started to use only almond milk, avoiding the use of diary products in their diet. I have been recently exploring veganism and trying out few recipes in my kitchen. Presenting here my personal favorite Vegan curry

Dhal is the comforting food loved by people of all ages and regions. It is a versatile dish which can be served with either rice or breads. Sweet Potato Dhal is prepared by cooking sweet potato along with red split lentils in a onion tomato based gravy. While Sweet potato lends mild sweetness to the dish , addition of spice powders provides the required spiciness to the dhal, thus making it a perfect one for a platter. To add up, it is completely vegan and can be consumed by people who are allergic. Prepare this sweet potato dhal and serve with Ghee rice or jeera rice.

Ingredients:

1 cup Red Split Lentils/ Masoor Dhal
1 cup Sweet Potato, cubed
1 tablespoon Coconut oil/Vegetable Oil/Ghee
2 Small Onions, chopped finely
1 large Tomatoes chopped finely
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds
4 Green Chilies, slit lengthwise
5 Garlic, peeled and chopped
1 ½ teaspoon Turmeric powder
1 teaspoon Red Chili Powder
1 teaspoon Garam Masala powder
5-6 Curry Leaves
½ teaspoon Salt (adjust according to your taste)
2 Cups of water
For Tempering
- 1 teaspoon Oil
- ½ teaspoon Cumin Seeds
- ½ teaspoon Urad dhal
- ½ teaspoon Mustard Seeds
- Coriander leaves, Handful for garnish

Method:

Wash masoor dal with water and soak in water for about an hour.
In a pressure cooker, add dal, a cup of water and pressure cook for about 2 whistles. Set aside.
In a non-stick pan, add oil and heat over medium flame.
Add cumin seeds to the oil and wait till the seeds splutter. Now, add green chilies and garlic. Fry until the garlic becomes brownish.
Gently add sliced onions and fry till they are translucent.
Add chopped tomatoes and cook until they become mushy.
Now, add the mentioned spice powders and combine them well.
Add potato pieces and stir them until the spices are blended evenly with the potato.
Add water and cook on high flame until the potato pieces are cooked well.
Add the cooked dhal to the pan. Adjust water according to your required consistency.
Season it with salt. Reduce the flame and cook on medium flame for about 5 minutes, until the dhal are blended with potatoes and spices.
Switch off the flame and set aside
In a small pan, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add mustard seeds followed by urad dal and cumin seeds.
Let the mustard seeds sizzle and cumin seeds turn brownish.
Add the tempered oil to the dhal and give a stir. Garnish with coriander leaves.
Serve with hot rice and a dollop of ghee