Lehed

Creamy lentil and root vegetable curry


This recipe was born in a way like many of my recipes do. I was just cooking us a dinner and after eating, I realized it was a really good meal and I should have written down the ingredients and left a serving for photographing. The last part is especially hard. And since I only photograph my food in daylight, there's almost never any leftovers from last night's meal. But if the food is so good, I love to make it over and over again.

I absolutely adore root vegetables. Carrots, beets, root celery and turnips are very often in my menu. They are also ridiculously cheap and super healthy. This creamy lentil and root vegetable curry has carrots and root celery in it, which suit really well with lentils. And the creamy sauce is of course made of sunflower seeds, which along with lentils, make this meal very filling. I love that this curry has a very subtle and mild sour taste. It reminds me of these classic curries made with yogurt. Serve it with rice, and you have a great lunch or dinner. Fresh coriander suits here very well too, if you are a fan of it.

Preparation time: 10 minutes active, 30-40 minutes passive

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients:

For the curry:
  • 3-4 Tbsp oil
  • 2 onions
  • 3 medium carrots
  • a medium piece of root celery (about 7 oz / 200 g)
  • 1 Tbsp curry powder
  • 1 Tbsp ginger powder or a piece of fresh ginger, chopped
  • 2 Tbsp ground coriander
  • 1 cup / 200 g dried green or brown lentils
  • 6 cups / 1 l + 400 ml hot water
  • 1 tsp salt
For the creamy sauce:
  • 1 cup / 150 g peeled sunflower seeds
  • 1 cup / 240 ml water
  • 1 tomato
  • 2 Tbsp apple cider or white wine vinegar
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½  Tbsp soy sauce or tamari
Directions:

Heat up a thick-bottomed pot. Add oil and chopped onions. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add coined carrots and cubed root celery. Cook for a minute. Add spices, stir and cook for a moment. Add lentils and water. Boil on a medium heat under a lid until the lentils are soft (about 30-40 minutes).

In the meantime, make the creamy sauce. Boil the sunflower seeds for 15 minutes. Drain and blend with other ingredients until smooth.

When the lentils are soft, add about a teaspoon of salt and all the creamy sauce. Stir and let it simmer for a minute or two. Serve it with rice for example.