Coconut Lentil Curry with Curry Leaves
Soft toor dal loosened with coconut milk and finished with a crackling mustard-seed and curry-leaf tempering poured over at the end. The tempering is what makes it.
By Vegan Cook. Published 5 August 2026
Ingredients
Serves 4.
- 1 cuptoor dal (split pigeon peas, a yellow lentil sold at Indian and Asian shops; yellow split peas work as a substitute), rinsed
- 1 cupfull-fat coconut milk
- 1/2 tspground turmeric
- 1tomato, chopped
- 1green chilli, slit lengthways
- 1 tspginger, grated
- 1 tspmustard seeds
- 1 tspcumin seeds
- 2dried red chillies, broken
- 12fresh curry leaves (a fragrant leaf sold at Indian and Asian shops, not the same as curry powder), optional
- 2 clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
- 1 tbspcoconut oil or neutral oil
- 1 tspsalt, or to taste
- 1 tbsplemon juice, to finish
Cookware
- Pressure cooker or heavy pot
- Small tempering pan (tadka pan)
Method
Read each step end-to-end before starting.
- 01
Cook the lentils
Simmer the toor dal with the turmeric, tomato, green chilli, ginger and 3 cups of water until completely soft and broken down. This takes about 25 minutes in a covered pot, or 3-4 whistles in a pressure cooker (an Indian way of timing it: count the loud steam whistles it releases, about 12-15 minutes). Whisk it smooth.
- 02
Add the coconut milk
Stir in the coconut milk and salt and bring to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes. Add a splash of water if it is thicker than you like. It should be pourable, like a loose soup.
- 03
Fry the spices in oil
Just before serving, make the tempering. This means frying whole spices in hot oil to release their flavour, then pouring it over the dish. Heat the oil in a small pan over medium-high heat. Add the mustard seeds and wait for them to pop, then add the cumin seeds, dried red chillies, curry leaves and sliced garlic. Fry for 20-30 seconds until the garlic is golden and the leaves are crisp. Stand back, as it will splutter.
- 04
Finish
Pour the sizzling spiced oil straight over the lentils and stir it through. You want to hear it hit the surface. Finish with lemon juice and serve with rice.
Allergen profile
Every recipe here is fully plant-based. Cross-contamination risk depends on your kitchen, so check all packaging.
Swap note
Naturally gluten-free, soy-free and nut-free.