Sweet Potato, Spinach and Lentil Curry with Basmati Rice
Serves: 4
Time: 70 mins - mostly cooking time
Don’t let the cooking time put you off this one, it’s pretty close to being a one pot dinner (aside from the rice and poppadoms) and once it’s cooking you’re pretty much done. I very rarely use white rice so if you don’t want to have a bag of basmati kicking around in the cupboards, brown rice will work perfectly fine. You don’t even have to use rice at all if you prefer it that way. Me? I like to load the curry up onto the poppadoms and eat it like that with a tiny drizzle of coconut yogurt over each bite. Poppadoms are generally gluten free (check the label first) but too many legumes in one hit can leave me feeling quite bloated so the best bet is to not cook the whole packet and remove temptation.
Leftovers
Curry is always better the next day, so this is a perfect lunch dish. Just make sure to put the poppadoms in an airtight container in the fridge.
What you'll need
1 brown onion
4 cloves of garlic
1 piece of ginger
1 medium sweet potato approx 500g
1 x 400g tin of crushed tomatoes
1 x 400ml tin of coconut milk
1 cup basmati rice
2 x 400g tin of brown lentils
1 small bag of baby spinach
1/4 cup of coconut yogurt
1/4 bunch of coriander
1 packet poppadoms
From the Pantry
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
1 heaped teaspoon turmeric
light olive oil for frying
salt and pepper
Prep
Make Curry
Peel the onion and slice into a very fine dice. Peel the garlic and ginger and very finely chop or grate. Sauté all together with coconut oil until soft in a large heavy based frypan that has a lid, or in a casserole dish.
Peel the sweet potato and cut into small dice. Aim for pieces roughly the size of a thumbnail (ladies).
Add the dry spices to the sauteed onion mix and cook out for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes along with 2 cups of cold water the coconut milk and the chopped sweet potato. Season with salt and pepper and place the lid on. Leave to cook for 40 minutes stirring occasionally, Check the sweet potatoes each time you stir if they are soft to bite then move on to the next stage of the curry.
Cook Rice
While the curry is cooking, pop the rice into a large pot with 8 cups of water and a large pinch of salt. Bring up to the boil then continue to cook for 15 minutes until al dente. Remove from the heat and drain off the water.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and leave to steam.
Cook Poppadoms
For best results follow the instructions as per the packet. You have the option to microwave if you aren’t confident with frying. If you are frying, have a tray lined with paper towels ready to place the cooked poppadoms on and always, always carefully remove the hot oil from the element once finished.
Finish Curry
Once the sweet potato has cooked you can add the lentils and bring back up to the boil. Check the seasoning, adding salt will cut any acidity from the tomatoes.
When you are ready to serve, mix the baby spinach through.
Plate it Pretty
Wash the coriander and pick nice leafy sprigs for garnish.
Fluff up the rice with a fork and spoon into bowls. Try to keep the rice to just 1/4 of the bowl and level it off so that it presents pretty. Use a ladel to spoon the curry into the rest of the space in your bowl. Drizzle over the top with coconut yogurt and scatter with coriander.
Serve poppadoms on the side.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
Curry is so yum the next day. I often like it more. You could totally eat this cold although I know cold curry isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea so make sure to pop it into a microwave safe container. If you can take some coconut yogurt, keep it in a separate container. Store poppadoms in an airtight container in the fridge.