Cups
Don’t worry if you don’t have proper measuring cups, for this kind of recipe I just want to make sure the water and the lentils are proportional. So if take a small mug which we can assume is relatively close to 1 cup, and use that same mug to measure both the lentils and the water you will be okay for this recipe.

Rice
I’ve said it before and I will say it again but there is no shame in microwave rice. Those pouches were designed to make your life easier and they make excellent rice. Any rice will be lovely here, brown, white - whatever you like. I don’t always have it with rice. I find it doesn’t always need it but depends on who you are feeding and how hungry everyone is. A hearty bowl of lentils with a poached egg and a little naan is a more than adequate meal in my view, even without the rice.

If you have a little more time serve with coconut rice
I love this rice. To serve 4 you will need:

380g jasmine rice

400ml coconut milk

250ml water

pinch of salt

Wash the rice and then place in a baking tray. Heat the coconut milk and the water in a saucepan and once hot pour over the rice. Sprinkle with salt and give it a good stir. Cover with foil and bake for 40 mins at 180c. Remove from the oven and let it sit for 10 mins still covered in the foil and the fluff up with a fork

Naan with garlic butter sound good, tell me more
So good! I have a recipe for them here. But they take a little time so I also like to get store bought naan - sprinkle with a little water, pop in the oven to warm up and then brush with garlic butter. Really good. Or any kind of flatbread for dipping is good.

I don’t have mustard seeds, can I still make this?
Absolutely! I don’t expect you to always have or buy every spice I use, that would defeat the point of Dinner Tonight. Cumin, coriander, garam maslala, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, mild curry power - would all work well and you can play around with the quantities.

Full fat coconut milk please
In writing this I realise coconut milk has featured in a few of the recent recipes, I’m obviously in my coconut milk era but I apologise if you don’t like it. I have made a note of it and it won’t come up again for a while!

Spinach
Here I’ve wilted the spinach in with the Dahl but I also love serving this with some garlicky sautéed spinach on the side. Just fry a little garlic in some oil for 30 seconds before adding as much spinach to the pan as you can. It will wilt down like you won’t believe. Keep stirring, season well and when it’s wilted but not completely lost it’s shape remove from the heat and plate up