Thoroughly wash and rinse your lentils from the night before. Grate and chop all your ingredients and have them ready to go.
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a low-medium heat. Once warmed, add the curry leaves, coriander stems (if using) spring onion greens and ginger and stir to combine. Cook until softened and fragrant or for 2-3 minutes. Add a splash of water if they start to stick at any time.
Add the spices and seasoning and stir to combine. Allow them to cook off for a minute before adding the lentils, water, grated vegetables, chopped tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir to combine, then turn the heat down to low and pop a lid on. Cook the daal, stirring occasionally, until the pumpkin is soft, around 10-15 minutes.
Once the vegetables are soft, use an immersion blender (a soup stick) to puree the daal to a more daal like consistency. You can also use a blender, but you might need to cool the daal first (particularly if you are using a Nutribullet).
Add the lemon juice and taste the daal. Adjust the seasoning, spices and lemon juice to suit your tastes.
Serve with rice (or without) coriander, a bit of yoghurt and a tadka with the curry leaves, if you’re using it. See the section on tadka above for more information.