A version of this recipe was done by Nigel Slater and appeared in a Saturday Guardian. It’s worth a look at, as are all his recipes, the link is here. I had to switch it round a little to reduce the quantity of butter used. Check out his Kitchen Diaries too, I have the third one and have used loads of recipes from it.

The recipe is for 2 and is around 350 calories each.

Ingredients

• 150g yellow dal
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 crushed glove of garlic
• 1 tsp of rapeseed oil
• 50g ginger, peeled and grated
• Pinch of chilli flakes
• 6 medium tomatoes, chopped
• Salt & pepper
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 300g brown cap mushrooms, left whole or cut in half if big
• 50g dried mixed mushrooms
• Juice of half a lemon
• Small bunch of parsley, chopped

What to do

1. Soak the dal in warm water for 30 minutes.
2. Rehydrate the dried mushrooms by soaking them in 200ml of boiling water for 30 minutes.
3. Cook the onions in the oil over a medium heat until soft.
4. Add the mustard seeds and cook until they start to pop.
5. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli and continue cooking for 5 minutes.
6. Stir in the tomatoes, drained dal and the mushroom soaking liquid (sieved) made up to 300ml.
7. Simmer for 30 minutes and finish off with salt, pepper and the garama masala.
8. While the dal cooks  mix the rehydrated mushrooms with the fresh ones and put them all in a foil parcel with a tablespoon of the mushroom water, the lemon juice and some seasoning.
9. Bake them in the oven at 200c for 20 minutes, shaking the parcel two or three times.
10. Put the dal in a bowl and put the mushrooms on top with a generous sprinkle of parsley.

Pointers / Tips 

• I like the rehydrated mushrooms a bit chewy but if you don’t soak for longer or simmer gently for 10 minutes.
• Add some rice or a naan – although I think there is loads to fill you up.
• Peel and deseed the tomatoes if you have time to make it less rustic!