I'm not great with regional cuisine, but I would say this is a beautiful cross between a Thai and Indian curry. With how complex a good curry recipe is it's hard to describe it. I mean, how else do you pinpoint a dish that's perfectly balanced in creaminess, richness, savory, bright, and simply amazing?! This delicious recipe is extremely versatile, you can definitely (and I do recommend) incorporating more vegetables or other add-ins, either by adding them at the beginning or end of the cooking time.
The original recipe, which I modified, is available here: https://www.theendlessmeal.com/creamy-coconut-lentil-curry/
Pictures of the cooking process are below.
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. coconut oil or other oil
1/4 a large red onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
1 tsp. ground cumin
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
6 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 1/2 Tbsp.)
1 Tbsp. ginger, minced (or ginger paste)
1 14 oz. can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
1 cup dried brown or red lentils
1 tsp. Indian red chili powder or 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Half a 15 oz. can of creamy coconut milk (like Thai or Aroy-D)
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garam masala
Optional: Fresh cilantro
2 cups fresh (e.g. potatoes, carrots, peppers) or frozen vegetables (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, peas, carrots, edamame)
Note: you can use the other half of the coconut milk can to make coconut rice which is delicious with this recipe!
Directions:
Add coconut oil and onion to a port or large pan (and also add fresh vegetables (e.g. potatoes, diced peppers, carrots), if using) and fry about 5-6 minutes.
Add the 1 tsp. cumin, 3/4 tsp. coriander, and minced garlic and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the 1 Tbsp. minced ginger and cook 30 seconds before adding in the crushed tomato, 1/2 tsp. turmeric, and 1 tsp. salt. Mix together and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes.
Then add the 1 cup of lentils, 2 cups of water, and 1/2-1 tsp. cayenne/Indian chili powder. Bring to a boil.
Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add more water if necessary. Then add in frozen vegetables, if using.
Simmer 10-15 more minutes, or until the lentils are cooked through.
Take off the heat.
Stir in coconut milk, 1/2 tsp. garam masala, 1/2 tsp. sugar. Taste it and adjust seasonings if desired.
Serve with rice. You can optionally add cilantro or other toppings!
It makes 4-6 servings, so you can refrigerate up to 7 days or freeze the leftovers. If freezing you can wait to add the fresh cilantro until after thawing (optional).
Here I showed how I made a double batch:
The ingredients I used. I also used garam masala.
Prepping the ingredients ahead of time. Yes it really does use that much garlic but you don't really taste it!
Start frying the onion in coconut oil. You would also add other vegetables that need to cook in the soup at this time (like potatoes and carrots)
Add the coriander, cumin (this time I used whole but ground is better), and garlic and cook a few minutes.
Then add the ginger and cook for a little while.
After cooking the ginger. Next we add the sauce and more spices.
After adding the crushed tomatoes, salt, and turmeric.
After mixing together and cooking about 5 minutes.
Add water, lentils, and chili powder. You'll mix it in and then simmer about 40 minutes total, adding frozen vegetables partway through if using.
After covering and simmering the curry for 40 minutes. Note: You would also add frozen vegetables about 25 minutes into the simmering time, if using.
Add the coconut milk, garam masala, and sugar.
Everything is mixed together and it's ready to eat! As you can see it didn't have extra vegetables but I highly recommend adding them!
Enjoy!