Curried Lentils with Carrots and Peas

Curry spices, coconut milk, brown lentils in a richly flavored vegan stew

Curried Lentils with Carrots and Peas: Sample recipe from Vegan Planet cookbook by Robin Robertson.

Aromatic spices and coconut milk turn everyday lentils into a richly flavored stew. Serve over freshly cooked basmati rice.

Feel free to play with this recipe. I made many changes to the seasonings and the cooking directions, then served it over brown rice.

It still tasted wonderful. Enjoy!

Total Prep & Cook Time: 60 min

4 - 6 Servings

Nutrition Data Per Serving, 389 g: 220 cal, 40g carb, 3g fat, 250 mg sodium, 13g fiber, 10 g protein, low Saturated Fat & Cholesterol, good source of Thiamin, Folate and Manganese, Vit A, Vit C. Estimated glycemic load 12

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, cut into chunks
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp curry powder or garam masala
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp gr. cumin
• 1/2 tsp gr. coriander

• 1/4 tsp dry mustard
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• Optional: 1/8 tsp gr cardamom or cloves
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/4 cups dried brown lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 2 large carots, halved lengthwise and cut into thin half moons
• 3/4 cups frozen green peas, thawed
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• Hot cooked rice, to serve

Directions:

1. In a food procesor, puree the onion, garlic, and ginger
2. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
3. Add the onion puree, cover, and cook to mellow the flavor, about 5 minutes, stirring a few times to make sure it doesn't burn.
4. Stir in all of the spices and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the water and bring to a simmer.
5. Add the lentils, cover, and cook for 25 minutes.
6. Add the carrots, cover, and continue to cook until tender, about 20 minutes more.
7. When the lentils and carrots are tender, stir in the peas and coconut milk. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
8. Simmer, uncovered, to incorporate the flavors, about 10 minutes
9. Serve hot over fresh cooked rice

Recipe Tips:

This curried lentil recipe is highly adaptable to your taste, and what you've got in your cupboard.

Here are the changes that I made:

I left out the onion, garlic and ginger, adding chopped celery instead. I fried the celery and carrots together in the oil, then added the spices, which I also changed.

I left out the cayenne, turmeric and curry powder, halved the salt, and used my own mild spice mix - fennel, coriander, cumin and turmeric. I added only 1/2 tsp garam masala, plus 1/2 tsp paprika and a pinch of asefetida (garlic sub), and no cloves or coriander.

I used pre-cooked lentils which I had in the freezer, thawing them earlier and adding them to the cooked carrots & celery. That cut the cooking time in half.

Since I cooked brown rice, which takes 45 minutes, I put that on to cook before I started the stew.

I added 1/2 can whole coconut milk with the lentils, and chopped cilantro at the end of cooking.

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