Coconut Dal Potato Curry

This curry may be the best veggie curry i’ve ever made… I had a hankering for roti king and had to develop a third red split lentil recipe for the month so I decided to make something that would remind me of them. I haven’t actually had their lentils in ages so I don’t really remember what it tastes like but in the process I came up with this delicious dish. It’s mildly spiced and has a nutty aroma to it. I used fresh curry leaves to temper in the hot oil along with dried chillis, if you don’t have those on hand, it doesn’t matter, the curry itself is delicious, the tempered spices only add an extra little something.

This is one of the 3 red split lentils for the month of April.

Serves: 4-5 people

Prep/cooking time: 35-40 mins

Ingredients

2 tsp mustard seeds

1 medium onion, sliced thin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp ground cumin

3 crushed cardamom pods

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon or a thumb size piece of a cinnamon stick

1 1/2 tsp curry powder (whatever’s your favourite)

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp ginger, grated

3 cloves of garlic, sliced thin

1 chilli, minced - I used a red mild chilli, green ones will also work

2 medium/small potatoes, peeled and diced into 2 cm pieces

1/2 cup red split lentils, rinsed until water runs clear

500ml veggie/chicken stock

250ml full-fat coconut milk

1/4 tsp cornstarch diluted in 1 tsp water

Tempered spices:

2 tbsp neutral oil

2 dried chillis

1/4 cup fresh curry leaves

Method

1. Add 3 tbsp oil into a pot along with the mustard seeds, bring the pot up to medium heat, let the mustard seeds cook until they start to pop.

2. Add onion and sweat until they go translucent, you don’t want to add any colour to the onions

3. Add spices, tomato paste, ginger, garlic and chilli to the mix, cook for a minute, or until spices are toasted and the garlic has started to soften. Make sure to stir the mixture, scraping the bottom of the pot so nothing sticks and burns.

4.Add potatoes and lentils to the mix and stir to coat them in the spices. Add stock, coconut milk, and cornstarch slurry/mix. Bring everything to a boil, add a lid on, turn the heat down to low and let the mix simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes and lentils are soft and fully cooked through, season with salt.

5. In a small pot add the oil and dried chillis, bring it to medium heat. When the chillis start to bubble, add the fresh curry leaves and take it off the heat. The oil will bubble and the leaves will pop. Let the spices steep in the oil for a few minutes, until it slightly cools.

6. Pour the tempered spices and oil mix on top of the finished and season curry.