Spicy Lentil Curry

When reorganizing the pantry a couple of weeks ago, I realized we had a ridiculous number of bags of lentils, but hadn't made lentils in a really long time. How to remedy that? By trying a new lentil curry recipe!

I decided to go with an adaptation of the spicy lentil curry recipe from the American Heart Association Low-Fat Low-Cholesterol Cookbook that I got from the library. I liked it because it was healthy and didn't involve any butter or ghee, and only a minimal amount of oil. The healthier we can cook at home, the better.

Ingredients

How many different grocery store brands do you see in the photo?

- 4 cups of water ($0)

- 1 cup of dried lentils ($1)

- 1 tsp cumin seeds ($0.06)

- 1/2 tsp ground cumin ($0.05)

- 1 tsp canola oil ($0.05)

- 1 large onion, chopped ($0.54)

- 1 medium tomato, chopped ($0.50)

- 1 tbsp ginger, minced ($0.10)

- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric ($0.12)

- 1/2 tsp salt ($0.01)

- 2 medium garlic cloves ($0.03)

- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro ($0.30)

The recipe also called for a red chile pepper, but I didn't find any when grocery shopping that day. I have since learned that cayenne could be an acceptable substitute. Next time maybe I'll try that if I can't find a red chile. I definitely think the recipe would be improved with the spice.

The grand total for this dish was under $3 (and still would be with the cayenne). Legumes are so affordable! We should definitely make more legumes for budget eating.

Process

The recipe was fairly simple. It took some time, but most of that time was cooking the lentils and you can do all the prep during that period.

1. Sort lentils for stones and shriveled lentils. Rinse. In large heavy saucepan, bring water and lentils to boil over medium high heat. Then simmer on low, partially covered, for about 45 minutes (or until they are tender). Skim off the foam and stir occasionally.

Lentils rinsed and ready to boil

2. While lentils are cooking, prep everything else. Chop onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, ginger.

Still takes me forever to prep this little amount of food

3. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Cook cumin seeds for about 1 minute (but don't burn them), until you hear them pop and they are fragrant. Stir in oil and add onions and ground cumin. Cook 4-5 minutes or until onion is light brown. Then stir in tomato and chile pepper.

Mmm cumin seeds

Cook for 5 more minutes until tomato is reduced to pulp. Stir frequently. Discard chile pepper if using a whole dried pepper. I really wish I had a chile pepper.

Ready to mix

4. When lentils are tender, stir in tomato-onion mixture and all other ingredients except cilantro. Simmer 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Tomatoes and onions mixed in

Adding everything else

5. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve. (We ate the curry over brown rice.)

Review

My version of spicy lentil curry - no idea if this is how it's supposed to look since the cookbook had no pictures

We really liked this recipe. It was simple, healthy and hearty and overall a good dish. The only negative was that it seemed to be missing something, like there was a mild lack of seasoning. Could have been the spice. After all, without the chile pepper, it wasn't exactly a "spicy" lentil curry, just a lentil curry. We definitely want to try this again, but next time with a red chile pepper or possibly adding in some cayenne. And we were really pleased with how much this recipe made, even after I cut down the amount. Using the ingredients above over rice could have yielded us two full meals for under $3! Happy to find another tasty, healthy and cheap recipe!