This lentil recipe is an eye opener – an incredible creamy coconut Lentil Curry made with just TWO spices! It’s a streamlined version of Indian Dal, delivering a similar intoxicating curry flavour but a whole lot less complicated. Make this with any type of dried lentils, canned, or even split peas!
Don’t let the simplicity of this recipe fool you. This is knock-your-socks-off good, and proof that you can eat amazing food on a budget.
“I’ll be honest and say I thought this would be lacking in flavour because I’m used to trying curries from scratch rather than with curry powder……How wrong was I?? I apologise wholeheartedly Nagi!! Amazing recipe, please try this people. Tasty, easy, mind blowingly awesome. xx” – Emily, 10 April 2020
Lentil Recipe – easy – mega flavour!
I know it’s childish of me to complain, but this Lentil Curry took an irritatingly long time to create.
I wanted simple. Minimal ingredients. And meat-free. Not like, say, this more complex (but equally delicious) Beef and Lentil Soup.
Quick to make. Very little chopping, very few ingredients.
A “go to” lentil recipe I could make any night that didn’t sacrifice flavour for speed.
And it had to stack up to real Indian Dal. I love it. I just don’t always have the time or everything I need to make it.
I knew it was a pretty high benchmark. Creating kapow! flavours out of plain lentils without going crazy with a list of spices.
But finally, I’m happy – and ready to share. Here it is!! (And just TWO SPICES!!)
Two little steps make all the difference…..
The key to cooking amazing food with bare minimum ingredients is good produce and knowing what to do to extract the most flavour out of what you have.
For this recipe, we’re going for the latter. We take our time sautéing the onions, ginger and garlic so they transform from raw harshness to a sweet, savoury flavour base. Then we cook off the two spices to make the flavour bloom.
These two little steps make all the difference so we only need water for this curry, no stock!
What goes in Lentil Curry with Coconut Sauce
Here’s what you need:
Lentils – use any dried lentils or canned here. Brown, green, red, yellow, whether split or whole OR any type of dried split peas. Green split peas will result in an an interesting colour in your pot, but it will still be phenomenally delicious. Just avoid French lentils (Puy lentils / black lentils) as they don’t soften as well as other lentils so you won’t get the same creamy, thick texture.
Curry powder – This is the main shortcut, The beauty of this is that you don’t need any fancy curry powder, just your run-of-the-mill jar from the grocery store. I’ve made this with Clives of India, Keens, and a generic brand and they all tasted just as good. Just be mindful of using SPICY curry powder – check the label!
Garlic and ginger – while fresh is ideal (followed by jarred), powder is a sufficient substitute;
Coconut milk – if you use low fat instead of full fat, you are not allowed to complain if your sauce isn’t as good as you hoped!😂
How to make this lentil recipe
And here’s how to make it. It takes about 50 minutes start to finish, but the active effort is only around 10 minutes – and there’s a nice flow to it because you can gather and measure ingredients while you stir the onions every now and then.
The Secret to an amazing Lentil Recipe
The key step here is sautéing the onions, garlic and ginger over a low-ish heat until tinged with gold, and they transform into a sweet, savoury flavour base for the sauce so we only need water instead of stock or broth.
Then we also cook off the curry powder and turmeric which lets the spices bloom before adding the lentils and everything else in to simmer away.
Just LOOK at that incredible sauce! So creamy! Loaded with flavour! (There are not enough exclamation marks in this world!!!)
What to serve with lentil curry
A sauce this good demands rice to soak it up, though if you’re on a low carb kick then cauliflower rice will work a treat. Basmati is on theme (being a curry and all) though plain white rice or brown rice is just fine too.
And if you really want to go all out, add a side of flatbread: Either real-deal naan or my general-purpose flatbread (an easy, no yeast recipe and I serve it as naan all the time with Indian curries).
Now, go forth and experience the greatness that is lentils!! Economical, filling, nourishing – the world’s greatest source of plant based protein, all wrapped up in a coconut curry sauce. YESS!!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Lentil Curry – mega flavour lentil recipe!
Ingredients
- 50g (3 tbsp) butter , unsalted (sub 2 tbsp neutral oil)
- 4 garlic cloves , finely minced (Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp ginger , finely minced (Note 1)
- 1 onion , finely chopped (white, yellow, brown)
- 2 tbsp curry powder , mild or spicy (your choice!) (Note 2)
- 1/2 tsp tumeric powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper , optional
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup dried lentils , green or brown (or any other dried lentils or split peas, Note 3)
- 400 ml / 14 oz coconut milk , full fat
- 400g/ 14 oz canned tomato , crushed or diced
- 3 cups (750 ml) water
Serving:
- 1/2 cup coriander/cilantro , finely chopped
- Yogurt , optional
- Basmati rice (or other rice)
Instructions
- Saute onion: Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and ginger. Slowly cook, stirring every now and then, for 10 minutes until tinged with gold and the onion is sweet.
- Cook off spices: Turn heat up to high, add curry powder and turmeric, stir for 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add everything else: Add remaining ingredients and stir. Bring to simmer, then place lid on and adjust heat to low / medium low so it's simmering gently.
- Simmer: Simmer for 30 minutes, then remove lid and simmer for a further 10 minutes to reduce the sauce. {Note 2 for cook times of other lentils}
- Lentils should be soft, sauce should be thickened and creamy. Too thick, add water. Too thin, simmer with lid off – thickens quickly.
- Coriander: Stir through half the coriander, then taste and add more salt if needed.
- Serve over basmati rice, sprinkled with more coriander and a dollop of yogurt. (Low carb option – cauliflower rice).
Recipe Notes:
- Green and brown lentils – most common & cheapest, cook per recipe
- Canned lentils (2 cans drained) – 25 min, uncovered the whole time
- Red split lentils – 25 min, uncovered the whole time
- Yellow or green split peas – 25 min, uncovered the whole time
- Any dal (Indian lentils) such as channa dal, toor dal or moong dal – per recipe
- French lentils (Puy lentils / black lentils) – not recommended as they don’t soften as well as other lentils so you won’t get the same creamy, thick texture.
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Dozer in lockdown mode. This is what passer byes see.
(Don’t worry, he still gets out once a day to the dog park! He just doesn’t go out as much as he used to. Like all of us. 😩)
I have cooked this atleast 5 times tried with brown lentils took me about an hour and a half, red split peas about the same hour and a half finally i thought i would try it with canned lentils still it has taken me over an hour and a half. The cooking times are just WAYYYYY OFF. I usually love your recipes but that is super frustrating
I think it depends on the stove perhaps? My dads stove is electric and takes FOOORREEEVVERRR to cook anything. I have gas and it’s super quick
I used canned lentils and it took about 25 minutes with lid off. Perfect!
Wow!!!! This literally blew my mind! My husband and children had seconds!
My husband isn’t a picky eater but has never been a fan of lentils. He does, however, love curry, so I thought I’d give this recipe a try. We both loved it! It’s definitely going into our rotation. Thank you for a fabulous recipe!!
I loved this ❤️ I ditched the ginger, added lamb, carrot, zucchini and used chickpeas instead lentils.
Amazing. I made it without the chilli powder, but added just a touch before the end of cooking as I like a little spice. Will be a regular on our rotation, and it’s very budget friendly. Thanks Nagi and Dozer!
should l cook the lentil first or not
Really hard to mess up. I used red lentils. I realized halfway through that I didn’t have curry powder (lol duh) so I added lots of spices typically in curry powder like tumeric and celery and cumin, at random measurements.
Used recipe to meal prep for the week and have been eating over cauli rice. So delicious + nutritious.
This is the most delicious lentil curry EVER! Honestly I could eat this everyday!!! I served it over roasted pumpkin slices instead of rice with a side of roti. 1000% recommend. Thankyou Nagi x
Wow! I’ve been exploring Nagi’s recipes that suit weeknight dinners and toddler friendly. This was a big hit! I used red split lentils, chicken stock and added a little sugar to our curry (just personal preference) to balance out the acidic tomatoes. Also skipped the cayenne pepper so my two year old could enjoy it.
I cannot believe how filling this dish was, we are big meat eaters in this household. I also cooked basmati rice in the rice cooker and added butter and a good pinch of salt 🙂 I want to explore and try different lentils but this was a great recipe to start with. Thank you!
Hi Nagi, this looks amazing and really want to give it a go. If I wanted to add more vegetables with it, what veges would you recommend?
I don’t have curry powder, but lots of other spices so dont really want to go and buy it just for one recipe. What can I use instead? Cumin, Garam masala, some chili flakes, Ras El Hanout?
Can I use olive oil instead of butter? To make it dairy free
I replace the butter with olive oil I find it doesn’t sacrifice any of the flavour
Chloe – just use a neutral oil like sunflower, peanut or rapeseed. You can also look out for vegan ghee. A light olive oil (not extra virgin) would work too. You’re not going to notice much of a difference with all the lovely other flavours going on!
Omg! This is delicious. So easy and cheap to make….but tastes like it’s been cooked for hours woth way more ingredients. Will be making this regularly for sure!!! I used red lentils and they worked very well x
I made this with French green lentils. No matter how long I let them simmer they NEVER softened up. Big disappointment!
If you want to use french lentils, you can, but you have to pressure cook them in the liquid part till soft first, then add everything else.
Hi Linda, you will see in the recipe notes that French puy lentils (French green lentils) are the only lentils not recommended. They don’t work well for lentil soups or curries because they don’t soften as much on cooking. They are better used for lentil salads. I use normal green lentils for this recipe and never have any issues. Hope that helps.
Yummo!! So easy & cheap to make. I used channa dal & it was ever so tasty, thankyou Nagi 🤗
This is absolutely delicious, and so simple and cheap! I do a double batch and sometimes only use half the coconut milk to you the spice. I serve over a little brown rice with a dollop of Greek yoghurt – lunches sorted for the whole week!!!
Hi there!
If I used canned lentils, do I need the water?
Yes you do Lynn, because you use the cans drained as per the recipe notes! N x
This recipe was fantastic!! I didn’t see your message until now but I did add some water as I went because it was a little thick 😉 I’ll remember to do that next time. We are trying to eat more vegetarian dishes and we are always trying to find good recipes to keep beans interesting. Could it be made with paneer or tofu?
Made this tonight! Loved it, the kids(who were dubious about this new thing) enjoyed it and went back for seconds!
That’s a great and healthy dish for the kids!! N x
Absolutely delicious Nagi!!!!
Could you use tinned chickpeas instead of lentils?
Just another super flavoured dish…pairing this with your amazing Vindaloo….big thanks Nagi
OOOOH curry night! Enjoy! N x
Is it necessary to soak yellow split peas overnight?