[17] + a recipe DIY

A while ago I mentioned my lentil curry on my blog, and promised a recipe DIY.
So, as part of my advent photo calendar, here goes…

1.  Chop up an onion and a clove of garlic, and cook them gently in a large pan with some oil in it.

2.  Add in two teaspoons of cumin seeds and the same of ground turmeric.  Stir.

3.  Mix in a can of chopped tomatoes and 750ml vegetable stock.

4.  Add in two chopped carrots, two chopped potatoes and 300-350g red lentils.  Stir stir stir

5.  Stick a lid on it and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.  I stir mine every 5 minutes to stop it from sticking, but that’s probably just my student-budget saucepan making it stick.

6.  Stir in about 60g of peas – I use frozen peas that I have allowed to partially defrost.

7.  It will start to look more curry-like once the liquid absorbs…

8.  Stir in 120ml coconut milk.  Taste it for curry-ness; I usually stir in a few spoonfuls of curry paste to give it a proper curry taste.

9.  Serve with pappadums – the ones you fry yourself are the nicest, like Patak’s.  Just be super careful with the hot oil, it’s reallllly dangerous and I have had a few burns that aren’t pleasant.

10.  Enjoy!  This is one of my favourite go-to meals, it’s total comfort food, and so easy to freeze or keep and reheat, plus it’s very inexpensive but still full of vegetables.