Here you’ll find a delicious and easy to make Indian recipe: the Lentil Curry.
You can use any type of lentils for this recipe: brown, green, red, black. They have slightly different taste and texture, but they all work.
Curry is a traditionally Indian dish, seasoned with strong spices. It’s usually thickened with coconut milk and it is often vegan, but it’s also made with seafood or lamb. It is served with rice. Curry has also spread to Africa and Japan and it has gotten influences from that cuisines.
The spices
For this dish you need to use curry powder. You can find it in all supermarkets and it’s a blend of more spices. This blend usually consist of turmeric, black pepper, cumin, ginger, garlic, cinnamon and the list can go on.
You will also need to use garam masala. This is another mix of spices and it has cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamon, cumin, coriander and other spices. Garam masala is different than the curry powder, as garam masala has a much stronger flavor.
Curry is a spicy dish and you will also use chili flakes or powder. Use more or less depending on your taste.
The spices are added early to have time to develop their flavors. I add all of them at the beginning, although garam masala is a “finishing spice” and it’s more powerful added after the meal is ready.
Tips for cooking lentils
The best tip I can give to you is that for digestion it’s best to soak lentils overnight or for at least 4 hours.
1 cup dry lentils 2.5 cups water 1 can coconut milk (both liquid and solid) 2 tomatoes 1 carrot 1 onion 4 garlic cloves approx. 2 cm of fresh ginger 2 tablespoons olive oil one hand fresh parley 2 teaspoon curry powder 1 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes juice of 1/2 lemon salt bread/ flat bread/ rice to serve Step 1: chop the garlic, onion, ginger, carrot and tomatoes Step 2: in a pan ( I use a wok) add the oil. When the oil is heated add the curry powder, black pepper and the chili flakes and fry the spices for one minute Step 3: add the onion, garlic, ginger and carrot and cook them for 3 minutes Step 4: add the lentils, water, coconut milk and tomatoes and cook for another 35 minutes or until the lentil is cooked Step 5: add the chopped fresh parsley, garam masala, lemon juice and salt to taste Step 6: serve it with flat bread, bread or rice Step 7: enjoy
Ingredients
Instructions
If you liked this Lentil Curry recipe, also try the Classic Chickpea Curry and the Vegan Butter Chicken.