Coconut Curried Lentils
This is one of my favourite recipes and I make it time and time again! Added bonus: it is healthy, simple and quick!
Lentils are an extremely nutritious legume packed full of B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and potassium. They are also high in fiber and protein which makes them an excellent meat alternative in plant-based diets. With a few simple ingredients, this recipe turns these lovely little legumes into some seriously creamy deliciousness.
First, you need to dice up some onion and mince some garlic and cook until soft in a pot with a little coconut oil. As those are softening up measure out the curry powder, turmeric, cumin, cayenne, salt, and sugar. Once the onion and garlic are soft and translucent add the spices and 2 tablespoons of water to the pot and cook over low heat to make a paste. Add the lentils to the curry paste and stir to combine.
Coconut milk makes this dish super creamy and yummy. Whenever possible I like to make fresh coconut milk and in my opinion, it tastes so much better than the canned stuff and is worth the little extra planning and effort. That being said we are busy peeps and canned coconut milk totally works in this recipe. I have used it many times and the end result is still awesome.
After the lentils have been coated in the curry paste it is time to add your coconut milk and vegetable stock. Bring this to a rapid simmer and then immediately turn the heat to low and cover. You don’t want to see a bunch of bubbles when cooking lentils; just a few small bubbles and a little movement in the pot. Start checking them at the 20-minute mark for doneness. Cooking time for lentils can vary but I have found that 25 minutes is the perfect amount of time to have them soft but not mushy but they may need as much as 30 minutes.
I usually serve the lentils with basmati rice or black rice and wilted spinach. If you cook the rice at the same time that the lentils are doing their thing everything will be finished around the same time.
I hope you enjoy this simple, tasty and healthy recipe and make it as often as I do!
Coconut Curried Lentils
Ingredients
- 1 cup lentils
- 1 small onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tbsp curry powder
- 1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp turmeric
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 1/2 cups coconut milk fresh if possible
- 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
Instructions
- Add coconut oil to a heavy bottom pot or dutch oven and heat on medium
- Add the diced onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent
- Whilst the onion and garlic are cooking combine the curry powder, cumin, sugar, salt, cayenne pepper and turmeric in a bowl
- Add the curry powder mixture to the onions and garlic. Cook this for about 30 seconds and then add the water. Stir to make a paste.
- Add the lentils to the pot and cook for about 1 minute.
- Add the coconut milk and the vegetable stock to the pot and bring to a rapid simmer. Immediately turn the heat to low and cover the pot. The lentils should have very slight movement in the pot and very few small bubbles.
- Continue to cook on low and check for doneness 20 minutes after covering. Lentils can take anywhere from 20-30 minutes to become soft. Make sure to not overcook your lentils as you want them soft but not mushy.
- Serve with basmati, white or black rice and vegetables of your choice.
Notes
Lovely Lentil Salad
