Not my usual kind of post but why not? This is one of my most favourite Indian dahl recipes with a little chilli kick to keep the digestive fires burning. Lentils are extremely nutritious (especially for veggies) and the addition of sweet potato makes this a warming and substantial Autumn/winter recipe.

Spinach and Sweet Potato Dahl

Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Ingredients (to serve two)

• 100g red lentils
• 450ml vegetable stock
• 1 small onion  grated or finely chopped
• 2 tomatoes  chopped
• ½ tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 red chilli , finely chopped ( or a sprinkling of dried chilli flakes)
• 1 large sweet potato cut into small pieces
• 2 handfuls young leaf spinach , shredded

Method (couldn’t be easier)

1. Put all the ingredients except the sweet potato and  spinach in a pan, bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Add the sweet potato and cook until tender, another 10-12 minutes. Stir in the spinach and cook for a minute until wilted.
2. Serve with naan bread, basmati rice or chappatis

YUM!

Everyone seems to be reciting the same mantra at the moment which is “October already?.”  It is a common theme and one which I commented on at roughly the same time last year. There is something about the onset of Autumn and its signalling of the progression towards the dark days of winter that triggers the reluctant awareness of another year passing.   “Nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments.” writes Thich Nhat Hanh “Heraclitus said we can never bathe twice in the same river. Confucius, while looking at a stream, said, “It is always flowing, day and night.” The Buddha implored us not just to talk about impermanence, but to use it as an instrument to help us penetrate deeply into reality and obtain liberating insight. We may be tempted to say that because things are impermanent, there is suffering. But the Buddha encouraged us to look again. Without impermanence, life is not possible. How can we transform our suffering if things are not impermanent? …If you suffer, it is not because things are impermanent. It is because you believe things are permanent…” 

 Perception of the passage of time is a fascinating subject. We all have occasions when we feel that time  is passing more slowly  – when we are clock watching at work or waiting anxiously for a phone call. And we all remember being ten and the summer holidays seeming endless ( and perpetually sunny of course!)  Time also seems to move more quickly sometimes, often when we are enjoying ourselves. And many people report  that they feel that time passes more quickly as they get older. Or we lose all sense of how long we have been doing something, often when we are intensely engaged in an experience. It happens in Yoga classes too. Especially in the Yin Yoga class. Something about the long held poses, the stillness and mindfulness make those 90 minutes pass in the blink of an eye.  

 I listened to a programme on Radio 4 the other day which was about perception of time. They introduced a number of theories and experiments, the most extreme of which – seeking to explore why time seems to slow down in high adrenaline situations – involved a freefall experiment which you can watch here .  Not your usual laboratory conditions!