Vegan

Warming lentil curry recipe

Cook: 40 minutes
4
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Enjoy a warming curry at home with this delicious lentil curry recipe by cookery author Gaz Oakley. Serve with rice and a garnish of coriander and chilli for a comforting dish that the whole family will love.

Lentils are an excellent source of soluble fibre – ideal for optimal gut health and good digestion. Plus, they also contain essential minerals such as iron, magnesium and zinc.

There’s a number of delicious spices in this lentil curry recipe, including turmeric – a wellbeing favourite. Turmeric is a staple ingredient in Indian cooking. It’s also highly regarded in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine for its therapeutic benefits. Places such as India, with high daily turmeric intakes, boast lower rates of particular diseases, including certain cancers. Yet turmeric has only recently found itself on the radar of modern medicine. In fact, there’s been over 3,000 studies looking into it in the past 25 years alone.

Another spice that has a number of helpful wellbeing benefits is cinnamon. Prized since ancient Egyptian times, cinnamon, with its distinctive aroma and flavour, is rich in a range of unique phytonutrients. These have attracted great interest from scientists. Studies suggest that two of these in particular, eugenol and cinnamaldehyde, have antioxidant, blood-glucose-lowering and antibacterial properties.

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Recipe credit: Merchant Gourmet working together with Gaz Oakley

Ingredients

  • 1 onion, peeled 
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled 
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger 
  • 1 tsp sea salt  
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil, for frying  
  • 1 x 250g pack of cooked puy lentils
  • 1 tbsp curry powder 
  • 1 tsp mild chilli powder 
  • ½ tsp turmeric  
  • ½ tsp ground coriander  
  • ½ tsp ground cumin  
  • ½ tsp ground fenugreek  
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon  
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree 
  • 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed 
  • 480ml vegetable stock  
  • 240ml coconut milk 
  • 1 tbsp brown sugar 

Serve with

  • Fresh coriander and chilli garnish 
  • Rice

Method

  1. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and salt to your food processor with a splash of water and blitz to form a paste.
  2. Place a medium sized, non-stick saucepan over a medium heat and add the spices. Pan roast them for a minute or two before adding the paste and the oil.
  3. Sauté the mixture for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Add the tomato puree followed by the potato and lentils
  4. Keep cooking the mixture and stirring until everything is coated, then deglaze the pan with the vegetable stock and coconut milk.
  5. Add the brown sugar, then pop a lid on the pan and let the curry bubble away for 15-20 minutes. Turn the heat down low and don’t forget to stir it every 3-4 minutes, as the potato has a tendency to stick.
  6. After 20 minutes of cooking, the liquid should have thickened considerably and it should smell beautiful.
  7. Serve the curry with rice or sides of your choice and garnish with coriander and chilli.