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Manjiri Chitnis

Whole Masoor daal and Tofu salad

Deicious, fusion Indian flavours in a vegetraian salad that is wholesome and very easy to put together
Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Fusion Indian
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 80 gm Baby Spinach
  • 150 gm Whole Red lentils
  • 50 gm Tofu
  • 75 gm Butternut Squash and sweet potato diced
  • 1/2 Avocado
  • 1/2 Knorr stock pot - onion gravy
  • 1/2 Knorr stock pot mixed chillies
  • Few Walnuts chopped roughly to garnish

Method
 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius
  2. Line a baking tray with a baking sheet
  3. place the diced butternut squash and sweet potato, drizzle some olive oil, smoked sea salt, and black pepper.
  4. Wash the whole red lentils ( laal masoor ) in a sieve under running water
  5. Place the washed whole red lentils with double the quantity of water in a small saucepan and add in the Knorr stock pots of onion gravy and mixed chillies.
  6. Cover with a lid and allow to boil until the dal is completely cooked. Top up with more water if you think it is running dry
  7. Place the tofu on a non-stick pan and dry roast on a low-medium flame for about 4 minutes each side or until done
  8. Meanwhile, half the avocado, scoop out the flesh and roughly cut into large chunks with a spoon
  9. Remove the butternut squash and sweet potato from the oven and set aside
  10. Remove the lid from the saucepan with the cooked whole red lentils and allow them to rest for a while, as they should not be too hot when served, also allowing it to sit will help the dal to absorb any excess water, if there is too much excess water simply drain it
  11. To plate, divide the spinach leaves equally on the plate, then serve the cooked masoor dal on top, followed by the oven roasted butternut squash and sweet potato, dry roasted tofu and finally top with the walnuts to garnish

Notes

  • Laal = Red in Marathi
  • Masoor = Red Lentils in Marathi
  • For this recipe, I have used whole red lentils with brown skin on. Alternatively, if you are pressed for time, you could use cooked ready to eat Puy lentils, but then you would accordingly need to adjust the time used to cook them with the stockpot I use a fan assisted oven, adjust setting accordingly to suit your oven type
  • I purchased a ready to roast pack of diced butternut squash and sweet potato from the supermarket
  • If like me you like to batch cook and also have cooked ingredients at hand to use at a later date, then, you could roast a larger batch of the diced butternut squash and sweet potato, so that you have these ready to be used in soups, salads, and curries
  • If you like your tofu firm then cut out about 1/4th of the tofu from the pack and place it on a kitchen towel to remove excess water, then place another plate on top keep something on this plate to weigh it down. Leave aside for 10 minutes. This should drain the excess water from the tofu. Alternatively, just cut the tofu straight from the pack into large chunks
  • If like me, you haven't drained and pressed the tofu to become extra firm, then handle it very gently with a wooden spatula as it easily crumbles