Created by chef Radhikah of Radikal Kitchen, this recipe can also be viewed on her Youtube channel.

Fresh baby spinach and chickpeas, slow-cooked with ginger, garlic, and onion with tomatoes and warm spices, finished off with a healthy dash of lemon.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 5 tbs olive oil
• 2 onions sliced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
• 1 tbs garlic paste
• 1 “ cinnamon stick
• 3-4 pepper corns
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 2 red dry chillies – optional
• 250 gm spinach leaves, washed and coarsely chopped
• 1 veg stock cube
• ½ can tomatoes
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp harissa paste
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Ready fried onions – 2 tbs for garnish
• ½ tsp ginger slivers, for garnish
• Salt to taste

Method

1. In a wide saucepan, heat the olive oil, add the red chillies and whole spices , then add the sliced onions and fry the onion in for 5 minutes or until the onion is softened, stirring occasionally.
2. dd ginger, garlic paste and cook on medium heat for 5 min.
3. Now add the tomatoes, cook for 5 min.
4. Add the spices, and salt.
5. Dissolve the stock cube in one cup of water. Add to the mix.
6. Add the chopped spinach. Mix well, simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
7. Add the harissa paste ; add more water and cook for another 10 min.
8. Add the ginger slivers.
9. Finally squeeze the lemon juice and sprinkle the fried onions on top.

Ingredients

• Butter beans – 2 cans, rinsed
• Onions – 2 , finely chopped
• Garlic – 8-10 cloves , grated
• Tomatoes – 3 large, blanched or ½ can tinned tomatoes
• Olive oil- to cook
• Red chillies whole – 2-3
• Zatar – 2 tsp
• Sumac- 1 tsp
• Salt- to taste
• Green olives – 6-8 sliced
• Preserved lemon – 1 – 2 , chopped
• Water – 3 cups
• Parsley chopped for garnish

Method

1. Heat the oil in a cooking pot, add the whole red chillies, add the onions and garlic, saute until golden brown
2. Now add the blanched tomatoes or the tinned ones. Cook for 10 min on low heat.
3. Add the herbs, butter beans and salt. Add 1 cup water, bring to boil, then cover and cook on low heat for 5-7 min. Add more water if you find it is too thick.
4. Now add the chopped preserved lemon, chopped olives and the remaining water and simmer for 10 min.
5. The gravy should be thick.
6. Garnish with chopped parsley

I first fell in love with the tiny Italian brownish green Umbrian Castelluccio lentils on a working trip in Italy, where I ate a delicious lentil salad that had been cooked with onions and garlic and then simply dressed with garlicky olive oil and vinegar and lots of fresh parsley. The lentils are similar to French Puy ones which are great in salads and stews as they tend not to fall apart, keeping their shape well in long cooking.
 
This stew is great on its own with crusty bread and a green salad, but is also lovely as a side dish with pretty much anything. I love it with grilled cheesy polenta slices, or very un-Italian herby, cheesy mashed potatoes for the ultimate comfort supper. It’s great on top of sourdough toast, brushed with olive oil and topped with plenty of Parmesan, or you could also add cooked small shaped pasta into leftovers to make it go even further. Limitless possibilities!

SERVES 4 • Prep time: 15 minutes • Cooking time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 4 tbsp olive oil + extra as needed
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 medium carrot, diced small or sliced thinly
• 1 stick celery, chopped finely
• 300g dried castelluccio lentils or small brown or green speckled lentils
• 400g tin tomatoes, chopped up a bit in the tin
• Salt and pepper
• Flat leaf parsley

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan (I like to use my favourite cast iron pot for this) over a medium heat, and add all the prepared vegetables. Fry them for a couple of minutes and then reduce the heat a little and gently for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and allow them to soften without browning. Reduce the heat further if the onion or garlic are taking on too much colour.
2. When the onion is soft and just beginning to turn golden, add the rinsed lentils and a little more oil if necessary. Stir to coat them in the oil for a minute or so, then add the chopped tinned tomatoes and the bay leaf.
3. Refill the tomato tin with cold water and swirl around the collect all tomatoey remnants before adding to the pot. Add a further tin of cold water to the pan, increase the heat and bring the stew to the boil. Once it is boiling, reduce the heat to a simmer, partially cover with a lid, and cook for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are tender but with some bite to them and not mushy. Stir occasionally to ensure the stew doesn’t catch on the bottom of the pan and keep an eye on the liquid, topping up if it is getting too thick before the lentils are properly cooked.
4. Season well with salt and plenty of black pepper, a generous glug of olive oil (you could use your best extra virgin one here) and a handful of chopped parsley stirred through. Serve with a little more oil drizzled over.
5. This stew improves by being made in advance as it reheats well, and will keep in the fridge for 3-4 days. You could also freeze this in portions.

Photo courtesy Jenny Chandler

Ingredients

• 200g / 7oz  yellow split peas, rinsed and drained
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbsp capers, rinsed
• 1 tbsp roughly chopped parsley
• A few very finely sliced pieces of red onion.

Method

1. Place the split peas, bay leaves, the onion and enough cold water to cover everything by a couple of cm in a saucepan. Bring the water up to the boil skimming away any scum or froth.
2. Now simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time and, if necessary, adding a little extra water to keep the peas just covered.
3. Add the salt and continue to simmer until the beans are very tender and almost dry.
4. Remove the bay leaves and allow the split peas to cool for a few minutes before you puree them with a hand held blender or in a food processor.
5. Don’t worry, the peas will taste bland and flabby, they will be screaming for seasoning. Add the garlic, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, freshly ground black pepper and more salt, if required, until you have a wonderfully balanced puree.
6. Spoon into a bowl and allow to cool completely, letting the flavours get to know each other.
7. Serve with a sprinkling of capers, the parsley, red onion and a splash of extra virgin oil.

Try topping the fava with any combination of the following:

• Chopped fresh oregano, coriander or parsley
• A few chopped Kalamata olives,
• Diced tomato and a handful of rocket.
• A sprinkling of roasted cumin seeds and sweet Aleppo or Urfi chilli flakes

This recipe was originally published by Jenny Chandler on her blog I’ve Mostly Been Eating and demonstrated at our 2018 Grand Dal Finale.

Makes 2 large bowls – ideal for sandwiches, salads, dipping and whatever else you usually do with hummus. The butter only really works with warm hummus, you could always zap it in the microwave just before serving.

Ingredients

• 250g split fava beans
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• Juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon
• 100 ml -ish extra virgin olive oil
• Salt to taste
• 50 g unsalted butter
• 50 g roughly chopped pistachio nuts
• Good pinch of Urfa chilli flakes (or any other sweet, slightly smoked chilli)

Method

For the hummus

1. Take a small pan, cover the fava beans by a couple of centimetres of cold water and then place over a medium heat. Skim off the froth as the beans come up to the boil and then simmer until they begin to soften and collapse into the cooking liquid. Do add a little extra water if needed but only enough to keep the favas from drying out. The idea is to purée the beans and liquid to make the hummus but if they are very wet you could strain through a sieve.
2. Whizz up the beans with a blender, out board engine (aka handheld blender) or food processor and mix in the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt to taste. You could, of course, serve this minus butter BUT please do give it a go, you may become hooked.

For the butter

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan (ideally a steel rather than dark, non-stick pan so that you can watch the colour of the butter changing later).
2. Turn up the heat until the butter begins to froth and then use your nose; once you begin to get that gorgeous biscuity smell you need to be on your guard. Swirl the pan a little so that you can see what’s going on and once the little flecks of milk solids are turning a foxy red/brown it’s time to quickly tip the butter into a heatproof container to stop it from burning. Too pale and the butter will taste cloying and fatty, too dark and it will taste burnt (just like a sugar caramel).
3. Stir in the pistachios and  Urfa chilli flakes. Swirl the butter over the warm hummus and serve right away with toasted bread.

This recipe was originally published by Jenny Chandler on her blog I’ve Mostly Been Eating and demonstrated at our 2018 Grand Dal Finale.

Despite the name this dish from the Greek island of Santorini is made not with fava beans but with split yellow peas – or more traditionally with a local variety of grass pea, an entirely different species of pulse. Either way it makes a simple but delicious dip and, in our book, counts as a dal by another name.

This recipe has been been shared with us by Hodmedod – it’s a great use for their split yellow peas.

Ingredients

• 200g Split Yellow Peas – or Greek Fava (Lathyrus clymenum) if available – soaked for 4 hours
• ½ Red Onion, sliced into rings
• 1 Red Onion, diced
• 1 tsp Flaked Sea Salt
• ½ Lemon
• 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Water as required
• Olive Oil, Capers and sliced Onion Rings to finish

Method

1. Rinse the split peas well and place in a large saucepan, cover with water, bring to the boil and then simmer on a moderate heat for 20 to 40 minutes until the peas are tender but still intact (the cooking will vary according to the peas and your water hardness), checking that the water does not evaporate and topping up with extra water if necessary.
2. Add one diced red onion and two tablespoons olive oil and continue to cook for a further 10 minutes until the peas are cooked but not too mushy.
3. Roughly mash the mixture and leave to cool.
4. Before serving, stir in more olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper to taste and drizzle with extra oil, top with the sliced onion rings and capers.
5. Serve cold or warm with vegetable croutons, toasted pitta bread or even fava flatbreads!

This recipe was contributed by Hodmedod from their collection of recipes for British-grown pulses.