I love this recipe. My sister shared it with me years ago and it's my go-to for a family curry. I've made it with red split lentils for a daal consistency, or green or puy lentils for a firmer texture. I've made it with chickpeas, I've made it with butter beans, I've even made it with woah....chicken and chickpeas, though I usually keep it veggie. It always works, and the kids eat it! I recently made it for 11 people on our self-catering holiday and it went down very well.
The recipe is here on Pinch of Yum's site. It's an American site so see below for my measurements in grams if that's more your jam.
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1 1/2 cup lentils, rinsed and picked over - I used my trusty Tala cup measure to translate this as 300g green lentils
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1/2 large onion, diced - I get mine from Kent Food Hubs
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2 tablespoon butter - I use Plurenden butter through Kent Food Hubs, but I sometimes sub in oil to keep it vegan.
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2 tablespoon red curry paste - I typically use a mild one like tikka masala in order to cater to my small children, I haven't tried much hotter. I use Karimix, sourced through Kent Food Hubs.
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1/2 tablespoon garam masala - this is about 2g
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1 teaspoon curry powder - 5g, I use medium but madras is also available
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1/2 teaspoon turmeric - 2g
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1 teaspoon sugar - 5g, I use plain ol' granulated
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1 teaspoon garlic, minced - If I don't gave fresh or can't be bothered to crush it, I use our own garlic granules, 5g
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1 teaspoon ginger, minced - I use 5g of ground ginger, it keeps better, and I am too lazy to mince it!
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a few good shakes of cayenne pepper - I estimate this as 1g, this can be omitted if you don't want it too spicy
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1 14-ounce can tomato puree - I translate this as passata, about half a bottle. I use Mr Organic Passata from KFH.
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1/4 cup coconut milk or cream - This is roughly 1/4 of a can, I use Essential Organic Coconut Milk, again from KFH.
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cilantro for garnishing - That's coriander to us Brits!
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rice for serving - I recommend 250g basmati rice.
Here are the instructions directly from the Pinch of Yum page:
- Cook the lentils according to directions. Drain and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute for a few minutes until fragrant and golden. Add all the spices (curry paste, garam masala, curry powder, turmeric, cayenne, sugar, garlic, ginger) and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato puree; stir and simmer until smooth.
- Add the lentils and the cream. Stir to combine and simmer for another 15-20 minutes (the longer, the better)! Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.
I've costed out buying these items in the shop and it comes to approx £3.50 including the passata and coconut milk from our instore pantry items (available online soon!). That's just 350 pennies for a tasty, easy meal for four, potentially with leftovers (and it even tastes pretty good cold!). The beauty of refill shopping is that you can buy just enough to try a new recipe, rather than to committing to large packets and the associated waste, in terms of both plastic and food.
Make it as an easy weekday dinner or part of a bigger curry feast, with our own Virtuelicious pakora kit, and add nans and chutneys as required!