Warming Dhal
It’s the start of a new academic year, and as usual my loan has yet to come in. I have just £2.84 available in my bank, so am reluctantly reliant on borrowed money. So…. I’m trying my best to cook well but very cheaply for the next few weeks til my damn loan comes through!
A lot of folks are probably in a similar situ. First thing to do is raid your parents cupboards for staples, pasta, rice, dried foods etc. Then think about what you can make that’s cheap that works with them.
Here is a recipe I’ve pinched from a housemate last year. Its delicious, protein rich, and very cheap.
Makes 6 servings, great for freezing
Ingredients:
Red Lentils, half a bag (50p)
Whole bag of spinach (£1.50)
Tomato Puree (48p for a tube, only using perhaps 2-3pence worth)
Small onion and carrot (From a “root veg” bag which is £1.00 which works out to 10p per item)
3 Garlic cloves (pinched from Mum’s cupboard)
Half bunch or fresh coriander (43p)
1/3 butternut squash (33p)
Stock cube, veg or chicken (again, pinched from Mum)
Medium Curry powder, 4tbps (80p)
Oil, tsp (pinched from Mum)
Total cost from local Asda £3.69, working out to 62p a portion. Serve on it’s own or with some boiled white rice.
Nutritional Value: 177 calories per portion (with rice ~370)
How to:
1) Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic, gently fry off with curry powder in a large saucepan. Meanwhile chop into chunks the carrot and squash. Add pan and heat through.
2) Whilst veg is heating, rinse lentils well. Add to the pan and stir well. Crumble in the stock cube and the tomato puree. Cover with boiled water, stir again, bring to the boil, and leave to simmer until the lentils are cooked through. Should be around 20 minutes, read packet instructions on lentils.
3) Whilst simmering, wash the spinach and coriander. Put the spinach to one side and chop up the coriander. When the lentils are fully cooked it should be a thick but fairly liquidy consistency, like a thick broth or stew. At this point at the spinach, if pan isn’t large enough add a handful at a time. Stir in and continue to add until it’s all in there. Once the spinach has just starting to wilt add in the coriander. Leaving a small amount for garnish.
4) Ladle over boiled white rice, or serve on it’s own.
There you go, warming belly food. You can of course add some fresh chopped chilli if you have some around, I usually do because I’ve always got a packet of fresh chilli in the freezer and I do like a good whack of heat. Put in in with the lentils.
If you have a slow cooker, you can whack all of your ingredients in there (remembering to rinse the lentils), put on low for about 6 hours.
Student Recipes 