Mixed vegetable and lentil curry
Ingredients
- 300g potatoes, ideally Maris Piper, peeled and cut into roughly 2cm chunks
- ½ cauliflower, around 300g, cut into small florets and halved
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into roughly 5mm diagonal slices or batons
- 250g small chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
- 2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 40g butter
- 2 large onions (around 350g/12oz), peeled and coarsely grated or very finely chopped
- 15g chunk fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2tbsp medium curry powder
- 227g can chopped tomatoes
- 50g dried red split lentils
- 2tbsp mango chutney
- 500ml vegetable or chicken stock made with 1 cube
- 100g frozen peas or young spinach or a mixture of both
- full-fat live natural yogurt to serve
Method
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A third fill a large saucepan with cold water and add the potatoes. Bring to the boil. Add cauliflower and carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and set aside.
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Heat 1 tbsp of the oil a large non-stick sautee pan, wide-based saucepan or flame-proof casserole. Fry the mushrooms over a medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, or until golden brown, turning occasionally and adding a little more oil if necessary. Tip onto a plate and return the pan to the heat.
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Add the remaining oil and butter and the onions and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes or until the onions are well softened and lightly browned, stirring regularly. Stir in the ginger and garlic and curry powder cook for a minute more, stirring constantly.
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Add the tomatoes, lentils, mango chutney and stock to the spiced onions and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes or until the lentils are very soft, stirring occasionally.
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When the curry sauce is ready, return the mushrooms to the pan with the onions, add the part-cooked vegetables and simmer gently for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally.
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If the sauce thickens too much, add a splash of water.
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Stir in the peas or spinach and cook for 2–3 minutes more. Serve topped with full-fat live natural yogurt. You can add small portions of cooked wholegrain rice but it shouldn’t be necessary as the curry already contains potatoes.
Recipe Notes
FREEZING TIP Flat-freeze the cooked and cooled curry in zip-seal bags for up to two months. Cook from frozen or thaw in the fridge overnight. Reheat in a microwave or large wide-based saucepan, stirring until piping hot throughout. MAKE A CHANGE
• Instead of mushrooms, try using 225g Paneer or 2 x 150g boneless chicken breast, cut into 2.5cm cubes. Paneer is an Indian cheese that cooks beautifully and retains its texture. Add to the curry sauce at the same time as the part-cooked vegetables.
• Use 1 tsp caster sugar instead of the mango chutney, or leave it out, if you prefer. • This curry is quite mild, so if you prefer a spicier curry, add a finely chopped green or red chilli, or ½ tsp dried chilli flakes, after the mango chutney.
• If you don’t have medium curry powder handy, use 2 tsp ground cumin, 2 tsp ground coriander, 1 tsp ground turmeric and ¼ tsp hot chilli powder instead.
FOLLOWING THE 28-DAY PLAN? Make sure you freeze two portions of this curry for later in the plan. Flat-freeze in one zip-seal bag.