Super filling lentil based dish inspired by both Indian cooking and the Happy Pear boys, I always make a double batch of this and it lasts all week. I tend to either eat a whole bowl of this on it’s own for a meal or add a small portion of it to another dish. It’s a great, quick and basic meal to have in your recipe toolbox.

You will need:

  • 500g red lentils
  • 2 red onions
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • Thumb size piece of ginger
  • 1 courgette
  • 4 ripe tomatoes or a tin of chopped tomatoes will do
  • Spices – 2 tsp cumin | pinch of cayenne pepper | 1 tsp tumeric | 3 tsp curry medium powder | 1 tsp black pepper | 1 tsp cajun | 1 tsp harissa (for extra kick)
  • 3 tblsp soy sauce
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 1 can of coconut milk if you want to make it a bit more luxurious
  • Some herbs like coriander or mint (optional)

To make this:

  1. Soak the lentils in cold water for a few hours if you can. If you can’t that’s fine too
  2. Chop the onions, garlic and ginger and saute in a hot pan for 5 minutes
  3. Add the chopped courgette, tomatoes and 1 tsp salt and stir well
  4. Cover and cook gently on a low heat for about 10 minutes
  5. Add the lentils, spices, soy sauce, lime juice and rest of the salt and about 1.5 lts of water
  6. If you want to keep this super low fat, skip the coconut milk, otherwise add it now
  7. Bring to the boil and then simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes
  8. Add some green herbs to pimp it up

Enjoy!

Yours in health & happiness,

JP