This red lentil and plantain dhal is a comforting dish designed for sharing. It blends South Asian and Caribbean influences, and features lentils simmered with spices and topped with golden fried plantain. The result is warming, flavorful, and filling. It’s also naturally plant-based and high in protein, making it a good choice for both everyday meals and special occasions.

The lentils are cooked with onions, garlic, ginger, and chillies, and spices such as cumin, turmeric, and star anise add fragrance and depth. Fried plantain is layered on top, adding a touch of sweetness and texture that contrasts delightfully with the spiced lentils at the heart of the dish.

The recipe comes from We Cook Plants by Sarah Bentley and Made in Hackney, and makes for a dish that is both simple and impressive. Serve the dhal with rice or your grain of choice and a side dish of fresh salad or stir-fried greens.

Whip up the red lentil and plantain dhal

This red lentil and plantain dhal is made for the table. Creamy spiced lentils form the base, while sweet fried plantain brings contrast. It’s a high-protein dish that invites everyone to dig in, and is best served with rice, greens, or salad for an easy and shareable meal.

red lentil dhal with parsnip fritters and green vegetables

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Duration1 10

Servings

Ingredients

For The Parsnip Fritters

320 g parsnips any mix of hard root vegetables – carrots, beetroots/beets, etc
1 small white onion
4 cloves garlic
8 g fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 sprig of thyme
70 g self-raising/self-rising flour
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon cumin/jeera seeds
1 teaspoon dried chili/hot pepper flakes
Big pinch of sea salt
Pinch of black pepper
500 ml neutral oil vegetable, rapeseed/canola or sunflower oil

For The Dhal

1 onion
4 cloves garlic
1–2 fresh red or green Bird’s Eye chilies
20 g root ginger
1 spring onion/scallion
Small handful of fresh coriander/cilantro
1 plantain
140 g dried split red lentils
2 tablespoons olive or rapeseed/canola oil
1 teaspoon cumin/jeera seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon Caribbean curry powder
2 star anise
800 ml vegetable stock
1 tablespoon water optional
Pinch of sea salt

To Serve

Cooked grain of choice
Simple green salad
Stir-fried greens

Instructions

Let’s prep the ingredients for the fritters

Grate the parsnips.
Finely slice the white onion, garlic and parsley. Pick the leaves off the thyme.
In a bowl, combine all the fritter ingredients – except the oil for deep-frying – then cover and refrigerate for 15–20 minutes.

Now let’s prep the ingredients for the dhal

Thinly slice your onion and garlic.
Finely chop your chilies (deseed if you prefer less heat).
Grate the ginger.
Roughly chop the spring onion/scallion and fresh coriander/cilantro.
Peel and slice your plantain on the diagonal.
Rinse your red lentils in a sieve/fine-mesh strainer under cold running water.
Sauté your onion, garlic and chilies in 2 teaspoons of the olive or rapeseed/canola oil in a frying pan on a medium heat. Once soft and translucent (after about 8–10 minutes), add all the spices, the ginger and a teaspoon more oil and continue to fry for a few more minutes.
Next add your red lentils and give them a good stir so that they are covered with the spices.
Add 700ml of the vegetable stock (yes, hold back 100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup), take the heat down and simmer gently for 20–25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If it looks like it’s getting too thick during this time, add the tablespoon of water.
Once the lentils are tender, give it a stir, add the remaining vegetable stock and the salt and turn off the heat to let the flavors develop.
While the dhal is cooking, pop your accompanying grain on to cook, and start deep-frying your fritters – not something that’s common in a health-conscious MIH class but sometimes it’s necessary!
Heat your neutral oil in a deep, heavy saucepan (or deep-fat fryer, if you have one) to around 170°C/340°F. To test if the oil is hot enough, pop in a pinch of the fritter mix – be careful not to splash yourself with the hot oil. If it rises and goes golden quickly, it’s ready to fry.
Gently slide 1 tablespoon of the fritter mix at a time into the hot oil and cook each one until golden. Depending on the size of your pan, I recommend cooking 2 or 3 at a time. It’s helpful to keep them a modest size (no bigger than two golf balls combined), otherwise you’ll find they cook on the outside and remain raw in the middle! Don’t worry about them being perfectly shaped, nice straggly edges is fine.
Get a plate or bowl lined with paper towels ready to one side of your pan (or fryer), remove the cooked fritters with a metal slotted spoon and pop them on the paper towels to absorb any excess oil. Keep them warm in a low oven, while you deep-fry the remaining fritters in the same way.
Now let’s fry the plantain. Add the remaining olive or rapeseed oil to a frying pan and ensure it coats the whole pan by turning it from side to side. Now fry your plantain pieces on a medium heat (you can fill the pan but you need some space between the pieces to move them around so they don’t stick) until golden on both sides. You’ll need to turn them over after about 2–3 minutes of frying to do both sides.
When it’s time to serve, take half of the chopped coriander/cilantro and the spring onion/scallions and stir gently through the dhal. Next lay the fried plantain on top of the dhal and sprinkle over the last of the chopped coriander to garnish. Serve the fritters piled high alongside.
Serve with something fresh like a simple green salad, stir-fried greens and your choice of cooked grain.

Recipes republished with permission from We Cook Plants, by Sarah Bentley & Made in Hackney (Watkins Media, Nourish Books). Publication date: October 2025. £30.00 Hardback. Main Food Photography copyright © Sarah Doig. Reportage photography copyright © Marcus Duran. Available to preorder now.